Delhi Assembly Elections: Shoaib Iqbal, Former Congress MLA, Joins Aam Aadmi Party

Shoaib Iqbal, ex-deputy speaker of Delhi Legislative Assembly and former MLA from Matia Mahal, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday. Iqbal, who had fought the last assembly election on Congress ticket, joined AAP with his son Aley Mohammed Iqbal. MCD councillor Sultana Abadi also joined the Aam Aadmi Party in the presence of Delhi CM and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal. Both Aley Mohammed Iqbal and Sultana Abad were elected councillors on Congress ticket. This comes ahead of the assembly elections in Delhi next month.

Iqbal had lost the last assembly election to Aam Aadmi Party's Asim Ahmed Khan by a margin of 26,000 votes. Iqbal, a party hopper, was first elected in 1993 from the Muslim-dominated Matia Mahal constituency in Old Delhi. He was then a candidate of the Janata Dal. He won again in 1998.

In 2003, he was elected as a Janata Dal-Secular nominee. When he won in 2008, he belonged to the Lok Janshakti Party. And in 2013 he was the sole Janata Dal-United legislator in the house. In 2015, he fought on Congress ticket and was routed -- like all other 69 Congress candidates.

The Election Commission of India last Monday had announced the schedule for Delhi assembly elections. It would be a single-phase election for 70 assembly seats in Delhi on February 8 and counting of votes shall take place on February 11.