Congress likely to field boxer Vijender Singh from South Delhi constituency: Reports

The Congress is likely to name boxer Vijender Singh, the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist, as its candidate for the South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, according to reports.

The party believes that Singh, who hails from Haryana, will be an ideal choice for the constituency which neighbours Haryana and has a number of Jat and Gurjar voters.

"His (Singh’s) candidature has been finalised by Congress president Rahul Gandhi. We are sure he will be able to win the seat. We wanted to field a celebrity and at the same time, someone whom the people will be able to relate to," ThePrint quoted a Congress leader as saying. 

Earlier, the party had contemplated fielding Ramesh Kumar from the crucial seat, but now it appears to have decided against it. The constituency is currently represented by BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri.    

The Congress on Monday announced the names of six candidates for Delhi Lok Sabha seats , fielding former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit from North-East Delhi, Ajay Maken from New Delhi and J P Agarwal from Chandni Chowk.

In North East Delhi, Dikshit has been pitted against her BJP counterpart, state unit chief Manoj Tiwari, and AAP’s Dilip Pandey.

The Congress also fielded Arvinder Singh Lovely from East Delhi, Rajesh Lilothia from North-West Delhi and Mahabal Mishra from West Delhi. The party is yet to declare its candidate for South Delhi seat. 

The announcement of candidates came after talks of alliance between the AAP and the Congress failed as the Rahul Gandhi led party wanted a tie up only in Delhi while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wanted the alliance to be forged in Haryana as well.