The Election Commission of India (ECI) will announce the schedule for the Delhi assembly polls at 2pm on Tuesday, setting the stage for the first major election in 2025. As many as 15.52 million people are eligible to vote in the Capital, as per the final electoral roll released on Monday, compared to 14.69 million in January 2020. The term of the Delhi assembly is due to end on February 23.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is hoping to return to power for a fourth time, has announced all 70 candidates. The Congress has named 48 candidates and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 29.
The AAP has been battling allegations of financial irregularities and crumbling civic infrastructure even as the release of leaders such as former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia from prison has buoyed it in recent months.
The AAP is banking on schemes such as free electricity, water, and free bus rides for women. It has promised ₹2,100 monthly to women, free healthcare for the elderly, and a waiver of inflated water bills if it returns to power.
The AAP has ruled Delhi with a full majority since 2015 when it won 67 out of 70 seats. It won 62 seats in 2020.
In September, Kejriwal resigned as the chief minister and named Atishi as his successor following his release on bail in the excise policy case, marking the latest churn in the political upheavals before the assembly polls.
Kejriwal is seeking his fourth consecutive term from the New Delhi seat. He won his first election by defeating late former chief minister Sheila Dikshit in 2013 by a margin of around 25,000 votes, marking a major shift in Delhi politics. He retained the seat in 2015 and 2020.
The Congress and the BJP have fielded Sandeep Dikshit and Parvesh Verma, sons of late former Delhi chief ministers Sheila Dikshit and Sahib Singh Verma, against Kejriwal.
In Kalkaji, BJP has fielded former parliamentarian Ramesh Bidhuri and Congress Alka Lamba against chief minister Atishi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday kicked off BJP’s poll campaign with a blistering attack on AAP, likening its rule in Delhi to “AAPda (disaster)”. He said “AAPda will go” and the BJP will return to power.
Alleged corruption and allegations of extravagant renovation of the chief minister’s bungalow when Kejriwal held Delhi’s top elected post have emerged as the BJP’s key poll planks.
The BJP has been out of power in Delhi for over 26 years even as it has won all seven Lok Sabha seats since 2014. It ruled the Capital from 1993—when the first assembly election was held in Delhi—and 1998. In 2015, the BJP won only three of the 70 assembly seats and eight in 2020.
The Congress, which swept to power in 1998 and ruled for 15 years, has been out of power since 2015 when it could not win even a single seat. In 2020, the Congress’s vote share dipped to around 4% as it failed to win even a single seat again.
The Congress has sought to revive its support base. Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav undertook a Delhi “Nyay Yatra” to connect with voters late last year. The party has said it got a good response from the people.
The Congress has promised ₹2,500 monthly to women under the “Pyaari Didi Yojana” if it is voted back to power.
The AAP and Congress are contesting the assembly polls separately even as they fought the 2024 national election in alliance in Delhi.