New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS) After the completion of the Delhi Assembly election, anticipation now builds around the results which will be announced on Saturday (February 8). The counting of votes will begin at 8 a.m.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) will first begin tallying the postal ballots, which include votes cast by government officials on election duty, service voters, and elderly or differently-abled voters who opted for the postal voting facility.
Once postal ballots have been processed, the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be unlocked and counted in multiple rounds.
So far, most of the exit polls predict the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) securing a comfortable majority to form a government in Delhi after 27 years.
New Delhi (AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal vs BJP’s Parvesh Verma)
The New Delhi constituency will see one of the most intense battles in the national capital with former Chief Minister and party supremo Arvind Kejriwal as the AAP candidate. He will face BJP’s Parvesh Verma and Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit from this seat, which Kejriwal has represented since 2013.
In 2020, Kejriwal won the seat by 21,687 votes.
Kalkaji
Kalkaji will also witness one of the most intense political battles in the Delhi Assembly election with AAP, Congress and BJP fielding their top candidates from the constituency.
The ruling AAP has fielded Delhi Chief Minister Atishi against Congress’ Alka Lamba and BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri. The constituency has 1,94,515 votes
In 2020, Atishi defeated BJP’s Dharambir Singh by 11,393 votes.
Malviya Nagar
Aam Aadmi Party’s Somnath Bharti is in fray from his bastion Malviya Nagar once again. The former Delhi Minister has won the seat in the last three elections with significant margins.
This year, Bharti is facing BJP’s Satish Upadhyay and Congress’ Jitendra Kumar Kochar. In 2015 and 2020, Bharti secured over 50 per cent of the vote share.
Rohini
In Delhi’s Rohini seat, a tough battle will be seen between the two-time winner and BJP leader Vijender Gupta (2015, 2020), who is seeking a third term against AAP’s Pradeep Mittal.
In 2020, Gupta defeated AAP’s Rajesh Nama ‘Bansiwala’ by over 12,000 votes.
Jangpura
All eyes will be on Delhi’s Jangpura seat as former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was also jailed in connection with the excise policy case, is contesting from this constituency.
Sisodia is competing against BJP’s Tarvinder Singh Marwah and Congress’ Farhad Suri.
In the 2020 election, AAP won by more than 15,000 votes with Praveen Kumar as their candidate.
Greater Kailash
Another key battle in the Delhi Assembly election, Saurabh Bharadwaj of AAP, who has consistently won the Greater Kailash seat since 2013, is now contesting against BJP’s Shikha Rai and Congress’ Garvit Singhvi.
Patparganj
A stronghold of former Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for the past three consecutive terms, Patparganj this year saw an electoral battle between AAP’s Awadh Ojha, who will face BJP’s Ravinder Singh Negi and Congress’ Anil Chaudhary.
Before AAP’s dominance, Congress won the seat from 1998 to 2013. In 2020, Sisodia won by 70,163 votes.
Okhla
Amanatullah Khan, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate, is once again contesting from Okhla in the upcoming elections, aiming for his third consecutive victory. He faces a new challenge with Congress fielding Ariba Khan and BJP’s Manish Chaudhary as his rival.
Ballimaran
Ballimaran is a traditional Muslim-dominated segment and a key seat in the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency.
This year, AAP has nominated Imran Hussain, while Congress has fielded veteran leader Haroon Yusuf. BJP has replaced its 2020 candidate with Kamal Bagri, who won a Delhi Municipal Corporation seat in 2022.
Chhatarpur
Another key constituency, Chhatarpur will witness an intense “battle of the Tanwars”. AAP’s Brahm Singh Tanwar is facing BJP’s Kartar Singh Tanwar and Congress’ Rajender Singh Tanwar.
Interestingly, Kartar, who had won on an AAP ticket in 2020, switched to the BJP last year and is now its candidate.
–IANS
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