Aam Aadmi Party to contest Lok Sabha polls in 20 states, may field Kumar Vishwas against Rahul Gandhi

Aam Aadmi Party today announced said it would contest the coming Lok Sabha polls in 20 states and is likely to put up its leader Kumar Vishwas against Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

AAP candidates against prominent leaders like Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav would be decided soon, party National Spokesman Sanjay Singh told reporters here.

He said AAP would field candidates in all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP. "The national executive of AAP has decided to contest Lok Sabha polls in 20 states including UP where we would contest on all 80 Lok Sabha seats," Singh said. "We will try to finalise names of candidates by February 15 and all those desiring to contest Lok Sabha polls can apply by January 15. However, those applying would have to be recommended by at least 100 persons each from all the assembly constituencies in his or her area," he said.

Replying to a question, Singh alleged that leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan, Farooq Abdullah, Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati and others called themselves secular despite the fact that they were with BJP in the past. "Now, they are with Congress and labelling themselves as secular," he said.

He said AAP was in favour of diverting development funds of MPs and legislators to mohalla and gram sabhas so that people could decide where public money is to be spent.