The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from Raebareli Justice (Rtd) Fakhruddin on Tuesday withdrew his nomination.

Fakhruddin informed the party that he would not be available for the contest. The AAP confirmed the withdrawal and said that it has fielded Archana Shrivastava from the seat. Shrivastava is a social worker and will now confront Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Fakhruddin, the former chief justice of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh High Courts, was apparently selected after the party decided to field a high profile candidate against the Congress president.

The party is silent over the reason for Fakhruddin’s withdrawal, but it is said that he has done it on some technical ground.