New Delhi (NVI): This time, Delhi will have 13,659 polling stations for the Assembly elections as compared to 11,763 in 2015, a jump of 16.89 per cent, according to the Election Commission.
The National Capital goes for polls on February 8. The results will be declared on February 11.
The spike in number of poll stations come as the ECI has decided to extend the facility of a postal ballot for “absentee voters”, people with disability and those above 80 years of age in all 70 assembly constituencies.
In October last year, the government had amended election rules to allow “absentee voters” to vote by postal ballot.
People who can have the option to seek postal ballot paper for casting their vote include electors on duty at the polling station, electors who are above 80 years of age and the electors marked as ‘Persons with Disabilities’ in the Electoral Roll. The facility of absentee voter status was provided for the first time in the country in seven Jharkhand assembly constituencies which went to polls in December 2019.
The high stake poll battle will see a triangular contest with the AAP hoping to retain power on the plank of development while the BJP and Congress will try to unseat the Kejriwal-led party.
Of the total assembly seats, there are 58 general category seats and 12 reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates.
The last Legislative Assembly Elections in Delhi were conducted in 2015. Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP had won 67 out of the total 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly.
