The Delhi elections will witness a fierce triangular contest between the AAP, BJP and the Congress. The ruling AAP, battling a wave of corruption allegations, will be eyeing a hat-trick.
Sudhir Kumar / NEW DELHI
Voting for the Delhi Assembly will be held on the 5th of February and counting will be done on the 8th February. The Election Commission today announced the poll schedule for the 70-member Delhi Assembly elections.
Briefing the media in New Delhi today, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said, the notification will be issued on 10th January and last date of nomination will be 17th of this month. Mr. Kumar said, 13 thousand 33 polling stations will be set up for over one crore 55 lakh voters in the national capital. He expressed hope that Delhi voters will vote in larger numbers this time.
The Chief Election Commissioner denied the allegations of EVM tampering, increasing the voter turnout numbers after 5 PM, and slowing the counting process. He reiterated that EVMs are foolproof devices and it is impossible to change voter turnout data. He stressed that India is the gold standard of elections.
The term of the current Assembly will end on 23rd of next month. In the 2020 Assembly elections, AAP had won 62 seats while BJP grabbed 8 seats. Congress failed to win a single seat.
The BJP, reduced to just single digits in the last two elections, will be hoping to return to the helm in the national capital after a hiatus of 26 years. The Congress, which once ruled Delhi for 15 years, will be contesting the polls alone after having stitched an alliance with the AAP for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The election, the first of 2025, is being seen as a prestige battle for all the three parties. Last year, Kejriwal resigned as Chief Minister after his bail in the liquor policy case, asserting that he would return at the helm once the people of Delhi repose their trust in him. This time, the party is banking on a host of welfare schemes targeting the women and elderly to beat anti-incumbency and its rivals.