Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi, former Delhi minister Raaj Kumar Anand has joined the Bahujan Samaj Party on Sunday. He announced that he will be contesting the Lok Sabha polls from New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency.

After joining BSP, Anand held a press conference where he said, "I offer tributes to Baba Saheb Ambedkar.I feel that I have come back to my party," He said he will file his nomination from the New Delhi parliamentary seat on Monday as Monday is the last day for filing nominations for the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 25.

Notably, Anand held various portfolios, including social welfare, in the AAP-led Delhi government. Last month, he resigned from the Delhi cabinet and quit the ruling AAP. He accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led party of not giving proper representation to the Dalits. He resented that there was no Dalit memeber in the top leadership of the party.

He had also alleged that Dalit MLAs, ministers and councillors of the AAP were not given any respect. 

New Delhi Lok Sabha fight 2024

With Anand’s announcement of jumping in the fray, the fight at the high profile seat has become even more interesting. The Bhartiya Janata Party haws fielded Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of late Sushma Swaraj sa its candidate while the Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Somnath Bharti. Both of them have already filed their nominations from the constituency.

Delhi has 7 Lok Sabha seats namely, Chandni Chowk, North East Delhi, East Delhi, New Delhi, North West Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi. In 2019, the BJP swept all the seats, leaving Congress and AAP’s tally to zero. All the seats will go to polls on May 25. The results will be declared on June 4. 

(With PTI Inputs)