Lal Bahadur Shastri’s grandson set to be AAP's face in Lucknow against Rajnath Singh

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aami Party ( AAP) has all but decided on fielding former Apple executive and grandson of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri against BJP president Rajnath Singh from the Lucknow seat.

But there’s one catch. The party, which waited for the BJP to show its hand before indicating its candidate for Varanasi, is now waiting for the Congress to announce its candidate for the Allahabad constituency to decide who should be its Lucknow face.

According to AAP leaders who spoke to ET on the condition of anonymity, the party is of the view that, apart from Lucknow, Shastri could also be a strong candidate for the Allahabad seat, which used to be his grandfather’s constituency.

"But his father, Anil Shastri of the Congress, is also a frontrunner for Allahabad and we do not want a father-son contest. We do not want to put him in that position," said an AAP leader.

In case, Adarsh Shastri’s father doesn’t contest from Allahabad, he could get a ticket from this seat. "Otherwise, it’s Lucknow for him," the leader added. Adarsh refused to comment on his proposed candidature when ET contacted him. AAP is also considering Maulana Kalbe Rushaid’s name for Lucknow in case Adarsh fights from Allahabad.

Rushaid, an influential shia cleric, is currently AAP’s candidate from the Amroha seat in UP. The party thinks that he could also give a tough fight to Singh considering the constituency has a large number of Muslim voters.

Adarsh was among the highprofile joinees of AAP after its stellar debut in Delhi. He quit his job with Apple (India), which paid him close to a crore per annum, to join the party despite his father’s reservation. "Arvind Kejriwal’s conviction impressed me," he had told ET after joining AAP.

According to the party leadership, Adarsh’s corporate background and family pedigree makes him an ideal candidate for urban seats such as Allahabad or Lucknow. AAP’s final decision on this is expected next week.