699 candidates in fray for Delhi Assembly polls

As many as 699 candidates are in the fray for the February 5 polls to the 70-member Delhi Assembly, marking a slight increase from the number of people who fought the elections in 2020.  Five years ago, 672 candidates had fought the Delhi Assembly polls.

According to the Delhi chief electoral officer, the high-profile New Delhi where AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal is locked in a keen contest against the BJP's Parvesh Verma and the Congress' Sandeep Dikshit, has the highest number of nominees at 23. Janakpuri follows New Delhi with 16 candidates, while Rohtas Nagar, Karawal Nagar, and Laxmi Nagar have 15 candidates each.

In contrast, Patel Nagar and Kasturba Nagar have the lowest number of candidates, at five each. In 2020, the Patel Nagar seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, had the lowest number of contestants at just four.

Out of the 70 Assembly constituencies, 38 seats have less than 10 candidates. Notable Assembly segments like Tilak Nagar, Mangolpuri, and Greater Kailash have six candidates each, while Chandni Chowk, Rajendra Nagar, and Malviya Nagar each have seven contestants.

As per the details shared by the CEO, Delhi, among the 20 candidates, three each from the Mundka and Nangloi Jat constituencies withdrew. The remaining 14 candidates dropped out of 11 Assembly seats. Notably, 57 constituencies had no withdrawals. Although there could be many reasons for a candidate to withdraw their nomination, change of their opinion is cited a common reason to not contest polls.

Among three key political parties in the elections, the BJP and AAP have fielded nine female candidates each whereas the Congress has seven women nominees. All three parties have fielded more women candidates this time than the 2020 Assembly polls. The prominent women candidates from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) include Chief Minister Atishi, Pooja Balyan, Pramila Tokas, and Rakhi Bidlani. Besides Atishi, it has renominated Rakhi Bidlani, Pramila Tokas, Dhanwanti Chandela, Bandana Kumar, and Sarita Singh. New faces for AAP this time include Anjana Parcha and Pooja Balyan, the wife of MLA Naresh Balyan, who is contesting from Uttam Nagar. Naresh Balyan was recently arrested for his alleged links to gangster Kapil Sangwan.

Among the BJP's women nominees, the prominent are Rekha Gupta, Poonam Sharma, Shikha Rai, and Priyanka Gautam. Of the Congress' seven female candidates, the key nominees include Alka Lamba, Ariba Khan, Ragini Nayak, and Aruna Kumari.