After AAP releases list of MCD candidates, veteran leader Shoaib Iqbal resigns: ‘Party is not living up to people’s expectations’ | delhi news

Soon after the veteran politician’s resignation, the Bharatiya Janata Party seized the opportunity, calling November 9 a “scandal” in a sharp criticism of the rival party.

Iqbal’s resignation comes amid a dispute within the party over the selection of the candidate for the Chandni Mahal constituency, which falls under Shoaib’s stronghold of Matia Mahal. The controversy began when Iqbal announced his son-in-law, Kashif Qureshi, as the RJD’s candidate for the constituency – a move the party later said was made “without consultation”.

The association said in a statement that it had conducted an internal survey and finalized Mudassar Usman Qureshi, joint secretary of the Delhi Youth Wing, as its official candidate. “The party has decided to give tickets only to its workers in the PDM by-elections and not to any umbrella candidate from other parties. The party avoids giving tickets to relatives and thus gives opportunities to ordinary workers,” the statement said.

Reacting to his father’s resignation, Aali Muhammad Iqbal, the current AAP MLA from Matia Mahal, said the decision had “deeply hurt” their family. “My father is someone who has never done party politics, and has always done individual politics. Before appointing a candidate, they did not consult me ​​or my father. For several terms, the people of the district elected him to serve them – first as a councilor and then as an MLA, regardless of which party he is contesting from. My father’s word in the district is very important; this is an emotional wound for me, and an attack on my respect and that of my father,” Aali said.

In this year’s Assembly elections, Aaliyah (34), who is still with the AAP, defeated Matia Mahal by a margin of 42,724 votes, among the highest votes in the entire Delhi election, defeating BJP’s Deepti Indura. His father, Shoaib Iqbal, a six-time MLA, has held the Matia Mahal seat since 1993 across several parties — including the JD, JD(S), LJP, JD(U) and the Congress — before joining the AAP ahead of the 2020 elections.

Amid infighting, the AAP on Sunday announced 12 candidates for the MCD elections to be held on November 30. Among them, AAP has fielded a lawyer and volunteer named Babita Ahlawat from Shalimar Bagh district – a seat that was earlier held by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. Its student wing president Ishna Gupta is contesting from the Greater Kailash ward, which was represented by former BJP MLA Shikha Rai. From Vinod Nagar, which was previously represented by BJP’s Ravinder Singh Negi, the party has appointed Geeta Rawat, a former councillor. Other familiar faces include Anil Lakra, former AAP opposition leader in the MDM, who is contesting from Mundaka, and Seema Vikas Goel, wife of a former councillor, who has been fielded from Ashok Vihar. Only three of the vacant seats were previously held by AAP councillors.

In a statement to the press, AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj said he was committed to promoting “dedicated workers” and not outsiders. “The PAC has decided to give tickets only to our workers. Every candidate has a strong presence among the people and enjoys their trust,” Bharadwaj said.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson in Delhi, Praveen Shankar Kapoor, slammed the ceremony and claimed that “AAP mistakenly announced a man, Keshav Chauhan, for the women’s seat of Deshaun Kalan, when his wife is the actual candidate they intended to announce… It gave a ticket to Geeta Rawat, who was arrested on bribery charges in 2021-2022. While AAP accuses others of dynastic politics, it is now trapped in a nepotism trap.” And deception.”