The Assembly polls in Delhi, touted as a face-off between the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party, will be held on February 7, the Election Commission announced on Monday.
Announcing the poll dates, Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath said counting will take place on February 10. The Delhi Assembly was dissolved by the President on November 4 last year.
Sampath said that 1.3 crore voters will be eligible to vote at 11,763 polling stations and the Model Code of Conduct comes into immediate effect.
By-elections for Srirangam Assembly constituency (in Tamil Nadu), Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Panaji (Goa) and Mukhed (Maharashtra) will be held on February 13. The by-election in Srirangam was necessitated by the disqualification of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who was convicted in a disproportionate assets case.
Counting for these State Assembly seats will take place on February 16. In addition, Bangaon Parliamentary constituency (West Bengal) will vote on February 13, with counting on February 16.
Delhi is the most anticipated election, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching the BJP’s campaign at a massive public rally at Ramlila Maidan. The BJP is expected to follow the campaign strategy it adopted in the recent elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir, where Modi remained the party’s chief campaigner and no chief ministerial candidate was projected.
AAP is believed to have made further inroads into the Congress’s traditional strongholds in Delhi — the slum clusters, Muslims, working class and poor migrants.
The Congress, a distant third in the last Delhi election, is still struggling to recover. Although the party has fielded Ajay Maken as its chief campaigner, party leaders admit the contest is essentially between the AAP and the BJP.