Delhi goes to polls on February 8, counting on Feb 11

 The Election Commission on Monday announced February 8 as the date for the Delhi assembly elections with the Model Code of Conduct coming into effect with the announcement, the EC said.

The date of notification is January 14, while January 21 will be the last date for filing nominations. Counting of votes will take place on February 14.

There are a total of seventy seats in the Delhi Assembly out of which the Aam Aadmi Party won sixty seven the last time.

Mainly three political parties are in the fray -- the Aam Aadmi Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said that he held a meeting with the Chief Secretary and senior officials last month about holding elections.

Ninety thousand officials are to be deployed for poll duty, he said. Additional secretaries will look after the deployment of the officers.

Arora lamented that some constituencies in Delhi had lower turnouts last time than seats in the Maoist affected areas of the country. But he assured that the EC is taking all steps to ensure more participation this time. There will be 13,750 polling stations in Delhi for 1,46,92,136 electors.

Arora also announced pick and drop facilities for senior citizens who would like to vote. Postal ballot facility for people with disabilities and senior citizens above the age of eighty is also available.

Teams for monitoring the media have also been formed, informed the Election Commission.IANS