Delhi MLAs hope to get lucky after poll hat-trick

New Delhi: After scoring a hat-trick, as many as 15 MLAs from Congress and BJP are out to prove their mettle again for the fourth time in the November 29 Delhi Assembly elections.

Prominent candidates among those are Congress ministers Rajkumar Chauhan who will contest from Mangol Puri, Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf (Ballimaran) and Finance Minister A K Walia (Laxmi Nagar) who are approaching the voters for a fourth time win.

Similarly party stalwarts like Mukesh Sharma (Uttam Nagar), Mateen Ahmed (Seelam Pur) are trying their luck once again after having won the seats on Congress tickets thrice -- in 1993, 1998 and 2003 assembly polls in the national capital.

MLA Mukesh Sharma who has shifted his constituency to Uttam Nagar following delimitation had won erstwhile Hasthal assembly seat thrice.

Walia, who is contesting from Laxmi Nagar after his assembly seat Geeta Colony was deleted post-delimitation, has thrown his hat for the fourth time in the electoral ring to defeat Murari Singh Panwar, a BJP candidate.

For the Congress heavyweight, Chaudhary Prem Chaudhary, who has never lost an election since 1958 and created a world record of winning elections in a row from the same constituency, Ambedkar Nagar, is hoping to retain his seat this time also.

From the BJP camp, three time legislators, Delhi unit president Harshvardhan, opposition leader in Delhi assembly Jagdish Mukhi from Janakpuri and sitting MLAs Harcharan Singh Balli (Hari Nagar), Jai Bhagwan Aggarwal (Rohini) and Puran Chand Yogi (Rajendra Nagar) are hoping to retain their seat this time too.

Three-time legislator O P Babbar, a prominent leader from the saffron party is in the fray for the fourth time from Tilak Nagar.

Deputy Speaker Shoaib Iqbal, who quit Janta Dal(S) recently, is also a three-time legislator and is now fighting the elections on a LJP ticket from his stronghold Matia Mahal.

Chattarpur assembly seat will witness an interesting contest as the former MLA from BJP Brham Singh Tanwar is all up to grab the seat from sitting MLA Balram Tanwar who is fighting on a Congress ticket.

Both are facing each other for the fourth time in the battle for ballot from the assembly segment.

Similarly Rambeer Singh Bidhuri and ex-Congress MLA Ram Singh Netaji, will try to outdo each other on Congress and BSP tickets respectively.

As Bidhuri, a former legislator from the NCP, managed to get a Congress ticket, disgruntled Netaji joined the BSP to fight the battle of ballot.