Delhi polls: AAP leaders Kailash Gahlot, Atishi, others file nominations on Friday

Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot, senior AAP leader Atishi who unsuccessfully fought the Lok Sabha elections last year, and several other members of the party on Friday filed their nominations ahead of the February 8 assembly polls, officials said.

Senior AAP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, his fellow lawmaker Nitin Tyagi from Laxmi Nagar and eleven other candidates had filed nominations on Thursday.

A total of 48 fresh nominations were filed on Friday by 36 candidates belonging to the AAP, Janata Dal (United), Bahujan Samaj Party, and small parties like Tipu Sultan Party, Ambedkarite Party of India, Asankhya Samaj Party, among others. Many have also filed dummy candidates.

With this, the total number of nominations for the upcoming elections has gone up to 73 from 59 candidates, a senior official of the Delhi CEO Office said.

Gahlot, who held a roadshow to file his nomination from Najafgarh said, "With my hundreds of supporters we have started our journey for the next five years".

Atishi tweeted after filing the nomination: "I filed my nomination for contesting Assembly elections in Delhi! It is the power and support of people that have brought @AamAadmiParty so far. Please, continue this support by contributing to my campaign fund".

Before filing her nomination, she also took out a rally in which she was accompanied by Sisodia, the sitting MLA from Patpatgang.

Sisodia, 47, had filed the nomination from east Delhi's Patparganj constituency for the assembly elections after holding a roadshow.

Sisodia, the sitting Patparganj MLA, had said the upcoming elections in Delhi would be based on the work done by the AAP government in the last five years.

Nominations for the high-stakes Delhi elections kicked off on Tuesday with poll authorities issuing the notification for the elections on the same day.

On Friday, nominations were filed in various other constituencies, including Mangol Puri, Mehrauli, Burari, R K Puram and Sadar Bazar.

Elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly promises to be a triangular contest with the Aam Aadmi Party hoping to retain power on the plank of development and the BJP and the Congress determined to put up a spirited challenge.

The counting of votes will take place on February 11.

The last date to file nomination is January 21 and the scrutiny will happen on January 22. The last date of withdrawal of candidature is January 24.

More than 1.46 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the Delhi elections, according to the final electoral roll.

The AAP has already announced all its 70 candidates.

The BJP, banking on experience to take on the ruling AAP in the Delhi assembly polls, scheduled for next month, released on Friday its first list of 57 candidates, which included four former mayors, and many councillors.