NEW DELHI: The stage is set for the high-stakes Delhi assembly elections as voters will elect a new assembly on Thursday. A total of 699 candidates are in the fray for 70 seats. Voting will start at 7am across 13,766 polling stations for 1.56 crore voters who are eligible to cast their ballots. Arvind Kejriwal‘s Aam Aadmi Party is in a fierce contest with the BJP for its third consecutive win. AAP had swept the polls winning 62 seats in 2020 and 67 in 2015. This time around it faces a strong challenge from the BJP. Congress is also hoping to make a comeback after a decade in the union territory.
AAP seeks third term
Led by Arvind Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party is seeking a third straight term, banking on its governance record and welfare schemes. On Monday, Kejriwal along with Delhi chief minister Atishi held three rallies to gain last-minute momentum.
Kejriwal stepped down from capital’s top job after he was granted bail in the excise policy corruption case in September last year. While resigning he had said that he would only the role of chief minister after he people provide him with a “certificate of honesty”.
AAP supremo has claimed that his party will secure at least 55 to 60 seats. In the last two elections, AAP decimated both BJP and Congress, winning 62 seats in 2020 and 67 seats in 2015.
BJP plans to return after 25 years
On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making a determined push to reclaim the capital after more than 25 years. Throughout its campaign BJP targeted AAP government over the alleged corruption charges against Kejriwal and other party leaders. The party has also piggybanked on the AAP’s ‘failed promise’ of cleaning Yamuna river and managing the overused landfills, poor waste management and non-adherence to the guidelines under the Solid Waste Management Bylaws.
Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president J P Nadda, and several BJP chief ministers were at the forefront till the last day of campaigning.
Congress’ promise to bring back Sheila Dikshit’s golden era
The Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 years till 2013, is striving to stage a comeback after failing to win a single seat in the previous two elections. The grand-old-party intensified its efforts for a comeback after a decade as Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi held road shows and rallies targeting AAP as well as BJP.
As the campaign progressed, Congress functionaries, giving examples of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana, laid stress on the principle of “Jo kaha hai woh karte hain (we do what we say)”, contrasting it with unfulfilled promises of AAP in Delhi and BJP at Centre. To strengthen its cadre, Congress fielded fresh, young faces and focused on reviving its core vote bank.
According to the data of the Delhi chief electoral officer (CEO), 1.56 crore voters will cast their vote across 13,766 polling stations. Among the total voters, 83.76 lakh are men, 72.36 lakh are women, and 1,267 are third-gender voters.
In the 2020 Delhi assembly election voter turnout stood at 62.82 per cent, 4.65 per cent lower than 67.47 per cent in 2015. In 2013, the turnout was 66.02 per cent, 8.42 per cent higher than 2008’s 57.6 per cent.
Key Constituencies
The stronghold of Chief Minister’s office has remained the forte of Arvind Kejriwal since 2020 when he came with a whooping margin of over 21,000 votes. Again, the Chief Minister candidate of Aam Aadmi Party, Kejriwal has to face his opponent BJP candidate Parvesh Verma, who was a strong and aggressive campaigner. Congress fielded Sandeep Dikshit, who is the son of former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
Here’s a look at the key contenders and constituencies in the Delhi assembly elections.
- Arvind Kejriwal – New Delhi – AAP
- Atishi – Kalkaji – AAP
- Manish Sisodia – Jangpura – AAP
- Awadh Ojha – Patparganj – AAP
- Alka Lamba – Kalkaji – Congress
- Ramesh Bidhuri – Kalkaji – BJP
- Parvesh Verma – New Delhi – BJP
- Sandeep Dixit – New Delhi – Congress
Delhi Metro to begin services at 4am
To facilitate polling, Delhi Metro will begin operations on all lines from their terminal stations at 4 am on voting and counting day to support staff deployed for election duty.
Trains will run at a frequency of 30 minutes on all lines until 6 am. After 6 am, regular metro services will resume for the rest of the day.
Additionally, to assist polling officials and staff returning late after election duty, the last metro services on all lines will be extended during the night between February 5 and 6.
The extension will be as follows: on the Red Line, the last service will be extended from 11 pm to 12 am; on the Yellow Line, from 11 pm to 11:30 pm between Millennium City Centre Gurugram and Samaypur Baldi; and from 11 pm to 11:45 pm between Samaypur Baldi and Millennium City Centre Gurugram.
The timing on the Blue Line will be extended till 11.50 pm, while the timing has been extended to 12 am on the Violet Line and 1 am, the Delhi Metro statement added.