Delhi Assembly elections to be held on February 7, counting on February 10: Election Commission
New Delhi: The Election Commission on Monday announced that the Delhi Assembly polls will be held on February 7, and the counting of the votes will take place on February 10.
"You are aware of the dissolution of the erstwhile legislative assembly by Presidential order, dated November 4, 2014. Legally, the commission, as per the principle, laid down by the Supreme Court of India the commission can take six months time for holding the next general elections," Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) VS Sampath told the media.
"However, since the dissolution of the President will expire by February 15, 2015 and in order to restore the mandate of the people as expeditiously as possible, the commission has decided to go in for elections where results will be known well before February 15," he added
Sampath further said that there are 70 assembly constituencies in Delhi of which 12 are reserved for SCs.
"The electoral roll, which has been published on January 5, consists of 1.03 crore electors," he said.
"Photo electoral rolls will be used for the conduction of rolls. There are 11, 763 polling stations in the national capital territory," he added.
Delhi has been under President's rule since February after the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government stepped down after 49 days in power.
Since Delhi is the only state going to polls now, the availability of Central Para-Military Forces (CPMF) will not be a problem, the sources said, adding that about 100 CMPF companies may be enough for free and fair conduct of elections.
Delhi also does not have history of violence or booth capturing that may have been witnessed in states in the past.
The elections will be an opportunity for the resurgent BJP, which has been on a winning streak under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in various Assembly polls since its spectacular success in the Lok Sabha polls last May, to seek a clear verdict unlike the fractured decision of 2013 polls in Delhi.
The BJP, which had then faced the polls under Modi as the chief campaigner for the party, could not get a majority in Delhi unlike the stunning success it had scored in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh which also went to polls then. The AAP, which made its debut in Delhi in the last polls in 2013, emerged the largest party with 31 MLAs, followed by AAP, which got 28 MLAs.
It managed to form a government with the support of Congress (8 MLAs) and JD(U) (one) but Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal resigned in 49 days making it a short-lived government.
