Delhi MCD Election 2017: JD(U) releases sixth list of candidates

The Janata Dal (United) on Sunday released its sixth list of 18 candidates for the MCD polls, taking the total number of contestants to nearly 120.

New Delhi, April 3: The Janata Dal (United) on Sunday released its sixth list of 18 candidates for the MCD polls, taking the total number of contestants to nearly 120.

The Nitish Kumar-led party has targeted to fight on about 150 of the 272 seats in the municipal elections slated for April 23. JD(U) had announced names of 27, 12, 23, 25 and 12 candidates in first-to-fifth lists.

In a statement today, JD (U) also alleged that some returning officers were harassing some of their candidates in the name of the party symbol.

"In an apparent effort to mislead our candidates, and confuse them, some returning officers for the upcoming MCD elections have been harassing our candidates on the pretext of the party symbol," JD(U) national general secretary Sanjay Jha said.

"As a recognized party with arrow as our symbol, we are shocked to learn about this discriminatory attitude and we will lodge a complaint with the Delhi State Election Commission," he said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is lined up to address two "big rallies" on April 9, and the party chief is expected to leverage the prohibition model during the campaign trail.

He asserted that the people of Delhi will support JD(U) based on what the party has done in Bihar and what it plans to do here. Jha said the campaign has picked up pace with every candidate doing door-to-door canvassing.

Purvanchalis, or people hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh settled in Delhi, are considered a major vote bank by all the parties. A sizeable chunk of this community is settled in jhuggi-jhopri and unauthorised colonies.

PTI