Assembly elections will be held in Delhi on February 8 and results will be announced on February 11. The date for the polls was announced by the Election Commission (EC) on Monday. The term of the 70-member Delhi Assembly will end on February 22 and a new Assembly has to be in place before that date.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which came to power in Delhi in February 2015 sweeping 67 of the 70 Assembly seats, is facing a tight electoral battle this time and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is getting ready for a triangular fight with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress. The BJP is riding high on the Narendra Modi-led central government's achievements, while AAP is confident of winning the elections on the back of initiatives introduced by the state government, especially in the health and education sectors, such as Mohalla clinics and school reforms.

The elections to decide who will govern the country’s national capital are expected to be held in a single phase with the contentious National Register of Citizens, Citizenship Amendment Act, air pollution, women’s safety, and statehood demand for Delhi likely to dominate the narrative.

The Congress, which ruled the state for 15 years, before being ousted by AAP, is likely to announce its candidate list next week. The BJP, which is trying to come back to power in Delhi after more than two decades, is also likely to announce its chief ministerial candidates soon. The names of senior leaders including party's city unit president Manoj Tiwari, former Union minister Vijay Goel, Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta, among others, have been doing the rounds as possible candidates for the CM post, if the party returns to power.

Delhi has a total of 1.43 crore voters, according to the EC's record for the Lok Sabha 2019 election. Men outnumber women as Delhi voters by over 14 lakh in count.

First Published:Jan 6, 2020 3:51 PM IST