It's now official, Delhi will go to polls to elect a new government on February 8 the result which will out on February 11. Polling for the 70 Assembly seats will be held in a single phase, said Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Aroa while announcing the election schedule on Monday.
With the announcement of the poll date, the Model Code of Conduct came into effect from Monday. It is pertinent to mention here that the term of the 70-member Delhi Assembly will come to an end on February 22 and a new House has to be constituted before that.
A three-cornered contest involving the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, BJP and the Congress is expected in the elections.
Addressing a press conference, Arora said, "Over 13,000 polling stations will be set up and about 90,000 officers will be deployed for the state elections.
He further said the notification for the elections will be issued on January 14. The last date for filing of nomination would be January 21, the scrutiny of nominations will take place till January 22 and the last date to withdraw the nominations would be January 24.
While Kejriwal led AAP is wooing the electorate on development plank listing the achievements of its government in last five years, the BJP and the Congress are leaving no stone unturned in placating their traditional voters.
The highlights of the AAP Government are Freebies like subsidised water and power, Wi-Fi service in public places, mohalla clinics and reform in primary and secondary education among others.
The AAP came to power in February 2015 sweeping 67 of the 70 Assembly seats in the state elections.
The Chief Election Commissioner issued the following instructions for the electoral process:
In case of any extraordinary situation, EC can take a call to defer the polls
The term of the current Delhi Assembly expires on February 22, 2020
A door-to-door verification of voters has been carried out prior to the announcement of the elections
A total of 1,46,92,136 electors are eligible to vote for the polls
About 90,000 officials will be deployed for conducting free and fair polls
A total of 13,750 polling stations are designated for the elections
Adequate security will be deployed to ensure free and fair elections
Media will be briefed on the polls on a daily basis after the announcement of dates
