Delhi Assembly Election: Polling on 7 February, counting of votes on 10th

The Election Commission on Monday announced that voting in the Delhi Assembly polls will be held on 7 February and counting of votes will be held on 10 February.

Speaking at his last press conference, Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath announced that Delhi, with an electorate of about 1.30 crore, will have 11,763 polling stations in the National Capital Territory and the notification for the polls will be issued on 14 January.

The last date of nomination is 21 January while the date of scrutiny is 22 January. The last date for a candidate to withdraw his nomination is 24 January.

Sampath also reiterated that as per the SC order, all columns in affidavits shall be filled by candidates. “If any is left blank the RO will bring it to the notice of candidate and inspite of that if relevant columns are not filled the nomination is liable for rejection.”

The CEC also said that his office has been reviewing the law and order situation in the NCT and all necessary action will be taken for deployment of state police, state armed police and central armed police to ensure free and fair elections.

The election commission also announced that VVPAT is used in two assembly constituencies – New Delhi and Canttonment and as per SC orders, NOTA facility will be provided in all EVMs.

Last week, a meeting of the ‘full’ Election Commission was held to discuss the preparations for the electoral exercise.

“Yes, the full Commission is meeting as it meets on every Tuesday and Friday. Of course, the EC will take stock of the preparations related to the Delhi Assembly election and issues related to electoral rolls,” a senior functionary of the poll body said.

He termed the meeting as a “usual” exercise held twice a week.

In terms of security, since Delhi is the only state going to polls now, the availability of central para-military forces will not be a problem, the sources said, adding that about 100 CMPF companies may be enough for free and fair conduct of election. Delhi also does not have history of violence or booth capturing that have been witnessed in the states in the past.

With PTI inputs