ECI to announce schedule for Delhi Assembly polls today

Term of the current Delhi Assembly ends on February 23, and the whole election process has to end before that

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to announce the election schedule for the 70-member Delhi Assembly on Tuesday.
The ECI in a media invite said, “Press Conference by Election Commission of India to announce the schedule for General Election to Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi at 2 pm.” The press conference will be held in the Plenary Hall of the Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital.

The term of the current Delhi Assembly ends on February 23, and the whole election process has to end before that. On Monday, the ECI released a newly revised voter list for Delhi. According to the latest figures, Delhi’s voter base has grown significantly over the past two months. In October 2024, the total number of voters stood at 1,53,57,529.

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However, after a summary revision, this number has risen to 1,55,24,858, an addition of 1,67,329 new electorates by December 2024. The Commission has cautioned against the submission of false and fabricated documents for getting new voter ID.

The ruling AAP has fielded candidates for all 70 seats. The party was the first to declare candidates for all seats. The party chief and former Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal is again fighting from the New Delhi seat. Chief Minister Atishi is contesting the Kalkaji seat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released the first list of 29 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, fielding former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Ministers Kailash Gahlot from Bijwasan and Raj Kumar Anand from Patel Nagar, and former Delhi Congress chief Arvind Singh Lovely from Gandhi Nagar. The party has pitted former Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma’s son Pravesh Sahib Singh Verma in the New Delhi seat from where Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal is contesting.

Former South Delhi Member of Parliament (MP) Ramesh Bidhuri is fighting against Chief Minister Atishi in Kalkaji. The Congress has announced 48 candidates and its further lists are awaited. Sandeep Dikshit, the son of Delhi’s former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, will contest the 2025 Assembly elections from the New Delhi seat. Dikshit, a two-time Parliamentarian, will take on Arvind Kejriwal, who defeated Sheila Dikshit from this seat in 2013 and 2015. Congress announced Alka Lamba as their candidate from Kalkaji.