Sonia Gandhi asked senior party leaders to contest Delhi polls: Rajesh Lilothia

Delhi Congress leader Rajesh Lilothia on Monday said that interim President Sonia Gandhi has asked senior party leaders to contest Delhi elections scheduled to be held on January 8.

New Delhi: With the Delhi Assembly polls only a few weeks away, Congress leader Rajesh Lilothia said that Sonia Gandhi has asked senior party leaders to contest elections scheduled to be held on January 8.

"Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi has asked the senior party leaders to seek tickets for the polls," Lilothia told ETV Bharat.

When asked if the party will announce its candidates any time soon, Lilothia said, "We have almost completed the process of coming up with a list of candidates. We are now waiting for the announcement to be made, " Lilothia told ETV Bharat.

On Congress' strategy for selecting candidates, the former MLA of the Delhi Legislative Assembly from Patel Nagar assembly constituency said, "We have always encouraged youngsters but appreciate experience as well, hence our tickets will be distributed equally among young and old leaders."

Elaborating on the party's manifesto, Lilothia said, "When we had a government in Delhi under Sheila Dikshit for 15 years, the national capital had witnessed all-round development. Our manifesto will be based on development."

Earlier in the day, the Sonia Gandhi had called upon all the leaders of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, including Ajay Maken, Arvinder Singh Lovely, JP Aggarwal, Rajesh Lilothia, and Naseeb Singh, among others, asking them to contest Delhi election.

As per the sources, Ajay Maken has refused to contest elections.

Lilothia is likely to contest elections against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.