Election Commission to Announce Dates for Delhi Assembly Polls on Today
New Delhi: The Election Commission is set to hold a press conference on January 7 at 2 PM to announce the dates for elections to Delhi’s 70 Assembly seats. The elections are likely to be conducted in a single phase, tentatively scheduled for February.
Key Contestants:
The upcoming election is expected to witness a fierce contest between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Congress. In the 2020 Assembly elections, AAP secured a sweeping victory by winning 62 out of 70 seats, while BJP managed to win 8 seats.
Election Process and Allegations:
Ahead of the announcement, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has alleged fraud in adding and deleting names from the voter list in the New Delhi Assembly constituency. Referring to a letter written by Chief Minister Atishi to the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi, Kejriwal claimed on social media platform X that large-scale irregularities have been observed in the voter list.
In her letter, CM Atishi highlighted a significant increase in applications for adding (Form-6) and deleting (Form-7) voter names between October 29, 2024, and January 2, 2025. She noted that 13,276 Form-6 applications and 6,166 Form-7 applications were received during this period. According to the draft electoral roll published on October 29, the total number of voters in the constituency stood at 1,06,873, with 6,166 deletions accounting for 5.77% of the total.
Atishi emphasized that as per rules, if deletions exceed 2% of the total voters, the Election Registration Officer (ERO) must personally verify each deletion request.
BJP’s Counterattack:
Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva accused AAP leaders Raghav Chadha and Sanjay Singh of intimidating election officials and demanded action against them. He further alleged that CM Atishi, Arvind Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh, and Raghav Chadha were part of a conspiracy to undermine democracy.
The controversy follows a letter from the New Delhi District Election Officer to the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi addressing AAP’s allegations of voter list tampering.
Media Invitation:
The Election Commission has invited media representatives from across the country to attend the press conference. Detailed information about the election schedule and other related aspects will be provided.
Voter Statistics:
This year, Delhi has a total of 1,55,24,858 registered voters, who will play a crucial role in determining the political landscape of the national capital.
