AAP pitches former cop against Sharad Pawar's daughter

The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday announced the names of 56 more candidates, including the mother of Kargil martyr Captain Vikram Batra, journalist Anita Pratap and former IPS officer Suresh Khopade, taking the total number of AAP candidates for the upcoming elections to 187.

Of the 56 candidates, 17 are from Maharashtra, nine from Uttar Pradesh, eight from Bihar, seven from Madhya Pradesh, six each from Kerala and Assam, two from Gujarat and one from Himachal Pradesh.

Former IPS officer Suresh Khopade, best known for his community policing work, has been given a ticket from Baramati constituency to take on Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule.

Captain Batra's mother Kamal Kant Batra will contest from Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur constituency, which is now held by BJP's youth wing president Anurag Thakur. Senior journalist Anita Pratap will be fighting from Ernakulam in Kerala which is represented by Union minister KV Thomas.

From Raigad in Maharashtra, AAP will field retired state police officer Sanjay Apranti. He had served as the superintendent of police in Raigad while Satish Jain, an engineer and MBA by qualification, will contest from Mumbai North seat.

From the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat, AAP will field retired Army officer Colonel Gadkari, who was a member of a team that won Tiger Hill during the Kargil war.