New Delhi:
Poet-turned politician Kumar Vishwas, former banker Meera Sanyal, party leader Mayank Gandhi and senior advocate H S Phoolka will be among the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
"We will soon release the first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha seat for around 25-26 seats," senior party leader and Political Affairs Committee (PAC) member Sanjay Singh said.
"Kumar Vishwas will contest against Rahul Gandhi from Amethi, Meera Sanyal from South Mumbai, Mayank Gandhi from North-west Mumbai and H S Phoolka from Ludhiana are in the first list" he added.
Names of these candidates have been making rounds for a long time, especially Vishwas, who had publicly challenged Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi after Arvind Kejriwal defeated three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dixit in the Assembly elections held in December last year.
Sanyal, a former banker, will contest against Union Minister and two-time MP Milind Deora. This will be her second contest against Deora, having lost to him in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls from the same seat.
Gandhi, a senior party leader from Maharashtra will contest against former Union Minister and AICC general secretary Gurudas Kamat from North-west Mumbai. He is believed to have started his election campaign by holding meetings with resident associations and NGOs.
The party has decided to give H S Phoolka, a social activist fighting for the justice for 1984 anti-Sikh victim, ticket from Ludhiana in Punjab.
The party has not been able to decide candidates for seven seats in Delhi, although it has short listed few names, but is vying options.
"In Delhi, we do not need any face as we are already popular here. We are wondering on whether to make them contest in other states or use for them for organisation," a party source said.