Polling for all 70 assembly seats in Delhi will be held on February 5 as a triangular contest is on the cards with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress aiming to halt the Aam Aadmi Party from coming to power for a third successive term.
Announcing the schedule Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said votes will be counted on February 8. The last date of filing of nominations is January 17 and the scrutiny of nominations will be done by January 18.
Candidates will be able to withdraw their nominations till January 20.
“It is a single-phase election… We have deliberately kept polling on a Wednesday so more people come out to vote… like we did in Maharashtra. The entire election process will be completed by February 10,” Kumar told a press conference.
He dismissed allegations that names eligible voters were removed from voters’ list.
Kumar asserted that no deletion can occur without thorough documentation, field verification, and giving the concerned individual an opportunity to be heard.
He emphasised that the process for additions and deletions is transparent, rigorous, and immune to arbitrary changes.
Of the 70 seats in Delhi, 58 are general and 12 reserved. According to the electoral roll, Delhi has 1.55 crore voters — 83.49 lakh men, 71.74 lakh women and 1,261 transgender persons.
There are 25.89 lakh young voters, 2.08 lakh first-time voters, and 830 above the age of 100, Kumar said. More than 13,000 polling stations will be set up in Delhi, he said.
In the 2020 polls, the Aam Aadmi Party won 62 seats and the BJP eight while the Congress drew a blank.
