NEW DELHI: Delhi is gearing up for its highly anticipated Assembly elections on February 5, with 699 candidates competing for seats in the 70-member House.
This marks an increase of 27 contestants compared to the 672 who participated in the 2020 polls. The results will be declared on February 8.
The New Delhi constituency, represented by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, has emerged as the most crowded battleground, according to the Delhi chief electoral officer. Kejriwal faces stiff competition from BJP’s Parvesh Verma and Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit, with 23 candidates contesting this high-profile seat.
Janakpuri follows closely behind with 16 candidates, while Rohtas Nagar, Karawal Nagar, and Laxmi Nagar have 15 contenders each.
On the other end of the spectrum, Patel Nagar and Kasturba Nagar constituencies have the fewest candidates, with only five each. Notably, Patel Nagar, a seat reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, also had the lowest number of contestants in 2020, with just four.
Out of the 70 constituencies, 38 have fewer than 10 candidates. Areas like Tilak Nagar, Mangolpuri, and Greater Kailash have six candidates each, while Chandni Chowk, Rajendra Nagar, and Malviya Nagar each see seven contestants vying for the seat.
In terms of party representation, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress have fielded candidates in all 70 seats. The BJP is contesting 68 seats, leaving two for its allies, the Janata Dal (United) and Loktantrik Jan Shakti Party. Meanwhile, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has announced candidates for 69 constituencies.
The nomination process was busy, with 981 candidates filing 1,522 documents during the week-long window starting 10 January. After scrutiny on 18 January and withdrawals by 20 January, the final list of candidates was confirmed.
