NEW DELHI: A total of 719 candidates will contest the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections across 70 constituencies on February 5. According to the Election Commission (EC), while 981 candidates filed 1,522 nominations—since a single candidate can file multiple nominations—477 were rejected during the scrutiny process on January 18.
The deadline for filing nominations was January 17. The last date for withdrawal is Monday.
The New Delhi constituency has the highest number of candidates, with 23 in the fray. In contrast, Patel Nagar and Kasturba Nagar have the fewest, with five candidates each.
Notably, 29 candidates filed 40 nomination papers for the New Delhi seat, the most in any constituency. Arvind Kejriwal (AAP), former chief minister, will contest this seat against BJP’s Parvesh Verma and Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit, both sons of former Delhi CMs.
Rural and unauthorised colony constituencies saw a surge in nominations, with Matiala recording 25 nominations and Burari 22. Other constituencies, including Mundka, Rohtas Nagar, and Laxmi Nagar, also saw over 20 candidates each. The BJP has ceded the Burari seat to its ally, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United).
Kasturba Nagar recorded the fewest nominations, with six candidates filing a total of nine papers. Key candidates here include Ramesh Pahalwan (AAP), Neeraj Basoya (BJP), and Abhishek Dutt (Congress).
AAP, BJP, and Congress are locked in a fierce battle. AAP, which won 62 out of 70 seats in 2020, aims to retain its dominance. The BJP is striving to expand its presence beyond the eight seats it won last time. Meanwhile, Congress is looking to stage a comeback after being wiped out in the last two elections.
The elections will be conducted in a single phase, with vote counting scheduled for February 8.
