New Delhi, January 24: Two sitting legislators from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday withdrew their nomination papers ahead of the Delhi assembly elections 2020. AAP MLAs Haji Ishraq Khan and Jagdeep Singh had filed nominations as independent candidates after the AAP decided to field fresh faces replacing them. Haji Ishraq Khan is an MLA from Seelampur, while Jagdeep Singh represents Hari Nagar assembly constituency. Delhi Assembly Elections 2020: 411 Nominations Rejected, Three Candidates Withdraw Papers.

Khan won the 2015 polls from Seealmpur with over 51 per cent of the vote, defeating Bharatiya Janata Party's Sanjay Jain and the Congress's Chaudhary Mateen Ahmad, who had held the seat in the all five elections since 1993, when it was created. The AAP has now fielded Abdul Rehman, who will face Congress's Ahmed and BJP's Kaushal Mishra in the February 8 Assembly elections. Delhi Assembly Elections 2020: Arvind Kejriwal Responds to Amit Shah's 'Phone Dead But No WiFi' Jibe, Says 'Use Our Free Charging Points'.

Jagdeep Singh had won the Hari Nagar seat twice in a row - in 2013 and 2015. But before the AAP came into being, from 1993 to 1998, the seat has been a BJP bastion. This time, the electoral contest has become more interesting with the BJP fielding its rabble-rouser Tajinder Bagga. The AAP replaced Singh with Congress-turncoat Raj Kumari Dhillon. Denied ticket, Singh had resigned from the AAP last week.

Earlier today, Singh, however, withdrew his resignation on the advice of party national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. "I thought it was better to stay with the party. The AAP leadership and the chief minister advised me to stay with the party. So, I thought we have done good work in the past few years so I should continue with the party," he told PTI over phone. Delhi will poll on February 8 and the results will come on February 11.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 24, 2020 06:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).