A total of 699 candidates are set to contest elections for 70 Delhi Assembly seats in the upcoming poll on 5 February, according to the Election Commission (EC).
The deadline for submitting nominations was 17 January, with scrutiny completed on 18 January and the final date for withdrawals on 20 January.
The New Delhi constituency, where former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is standing, has the highest number of candidates at 23. The BJP has fielded Parvesh Verma, son of former Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma, while the Congress has put forward Sandeep Dikshit, son of former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, for this seat.
Patel Nagar and Kasturba Nagar constituencies have the fewest candidates, with just five each. These are followed by Tilak Nagar, Karol Bagh, Gandhi Nagar, Greater Kailash, Mangol Puri, and Tri Nagar, each having six candidates, according to the EC.
Out of the 70 seats, 38 have fewer than 10 candidates contesting. Constituencies such as Tilak Nagar, Mangolpuri, Tri Nagar, Greater Kailash, Gandhi Nagar, and Karol Bagh each have six candidates, while Chandni Chowk, Krishna Nagar, Trilokpuri, Delhi Cantonment, Rajendra Nagar, Narela, Bawana, Shakur Basti, Malviya Nagar, Deoli, and Palam each have seven.
Janakpuri has the second-highest number of candidates, with 16, followed by Rohtas Nagar, Karawal Nagar, and Laxmi Nagar, each with 15 candidates.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress are contesting all 70 seats, while the BJP is fielding candidates in 68 constituencies, having allocated one seat each to Janata Dal (United) and Loktantrik Jan Shakti Party under a pre-poll seat-sharing arrangement. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded candidates in 69 seats.
Key contenders for the Greater Kailash seat include AAP’s Saurabh Bhardwaj, BJP’s Shikha Rai, and Congress’ Garvit Singhvi.
Meanwhile, the Kasturba Nagar seat will see a contest between AAP’s Ramesh Pahalwan, BJP’s Neeraj Basoya, and Congress’ Abhishek Dutt.
As polling day nears, the political atmosphere in Delhi is heating up. The BJP has accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of fielding the highest number of candidates with criminal records, despite its earlier pledge to prevent such individuals from entering the assembly.
BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said, “The Aam Aadmi Party claimed it would not allow criminals in the assembly to ensure strict laws are passed. However, their candidate list shows that AAP has the highest percentage of candidates with criminal records, nearly 60%, followed by the Congress. This is yet another U-turn by AAP.”
The election will be held in a single phase on 5 February, with the votes counted on 8 February.
The Congress, which held power in Delhi for 15 consecutive years, has faced significant setbacks in the past two assembly elections, failing to secure a single seat. In contrast, the AAP dominated the 2015 and 2020 polls, winning 67 and 62 seats, respectively, out of 70, while the BJP managed only three seats in 2015 and eight in 2020.
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