New Delhi, February 7: The polling for the Delhi Assembly Elections 2020 is just hours away and all stakes are high on the high-profile candidates contesting the polls. Among the main candidates whose fate would be decided by the people of Delhi include incumbent Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Congress Leader Alka Lamba, AAp leader Aatishi, BJP leader Kapil Mishra and Tajinder Pal Bagga from BJP.
Looking at the key candidates portfolios and the stakes on these leaders, the elections are considered to be vital for both AAP and BJP. While for the Congress its a do or die situation, as it failed to open its account in the previous Delhi Assembly polls in 2015. Delhi Assembly Elections 2020: ECI Serves Notice to Arvind Kejriwal for Violating MCC, Asks to Submit Reply 5 PM Tomorrow.
Here are the information on some of the important candidates portfolios:
Arvind Kejriwal (AAP): The incumbent Chief Minister and AAP coinvenor is contesting from New Delhi seat, which is the home seat from where he secured victory in 2015. He secured the victory against BJP stalwart Nupur Sharma. This time, he is contesting against BJP's Sunil Yada and Congress's Romesh Sabharwal.
Manish Sisodia (AAP): The incumbent Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is contesting from Patpatgang seat, which is the home seat from where he secured victory in 2015. He secured the victory against BJP leader Vinod Kumar Binni. This time, he is contesting against BJP's Ravi Negi and Congress's Laxman Rawat.
Alka Lamba (Congress): The political stalwart is contesting from Chandni Chowk contituencey, which she won after defeating Congress candidate Prahlad S Sawhney in 2015 Assembly polls. This time, Lamba is contesting on a Congress ticket from the same seat, and against Prahlad S Sawhney -- who is contesting on a AAP ticket. BJP has fielded Suman kumar Gupta from Chandni Chowk seat.
Tajinder Singh Bagga (BJP): The Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Tajinder Singh Bagga is one of the few candidates on whom BJP is staking has kept high hopes. Though he didn't contest elections in 2015, he has been fielded from Hari Nagar seat this time by BJP. Meanwhile, AAP has fielded Rajkumari Dhillon and Congress has given ticket to Surender Sethi from this seat.
Kapil Mishra (BJP): Among the most highly-profiled leader is none other than Kapil Mishra, who left AAP and joined Bharatiya Janata Party. Mishra has earlier contested on AAP ticket from Karawal Nagar in 2015 and secured victory against BJP leader Mohan Singh Visht. This time, Mishra is contesting on the Model Town seat on BJP ticket, against AAP's Akhilesh Pati Tripathi and Congress' Akansha Ola.
In the previous Delhi Assembly election 2015, AAP won by a thumping majority by securing 67 seats and formed the government, while BJP managed to win just three seats. This time 668 candidates are in the fray for 70 assembly seats.
According to the chief electoral officer (CEO) Delhi Ranbir Singh, there are a total of 1,46,92,136 (1.46 crore) voters in Delhi comprising 80.55 lakh males and 66.35 lakh females. There are 58 general category seats, 12 for SC and none for STs in Delhi assembly. For the smooth conduct of polls, EC has deployed 90,000 policemen across 13,750 polling stations in Delhi.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 07, 2020 11:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).