Delhi Assembly election: Kejriwal to file nomination today

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal will on Tuesday file his nomination for the February8 poll in Delhi, a day after the process was postponed as Kejriwal failed toreach the EC office on time. Tuesday is also the last day for filing ofnomination for the February 8 poll in Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal had failed toreach the Election Commission office on time on Monday due to a massiveroadshow by the AAP.

"I had to file my nomination today[Monday] but I could not because the nomination office closes at 3 pm and waslate. I was repeatedly told to come off (vehicle) and travel to the nominationoffice, but how could I go? I could not leave behind the outpouring love andsupport from my people. We are ending the roadshow here. I will go along withmy family and file my nomination on Tuesday," Arvind Kejriwal said.

Arvind Kejriwal had started his rally tofile his nomination for the New Delhi Assembly constituency at thesub-divisional magistrate in Jamnagar on Monday afternoon. Kejriwal was joinedby hundreds of AAP workers, supporters and senior party leaders and reachedHanuman temple near Connaught Place at around 3.15 pm. The electoral officer ofthe returning officer closes at 3 pm. Arvind Kejriwal will be in the frayagainst Congress's Romesh Sabharwal and Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) SunilYadav.

Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri'sgrandson Adarsh Shastri contesting Delhi election on a Congress ticket came asa major boost to the party. He was earlier an AAP MLA from Dwarka.

Former AAP MLA Alka Lamba is contestingfrom her previous seat Chandni Chowk, this time on a Congress ticket. Lamba isin the fray against AAP's Prahlad Singh Sawhney, a former four-time CongressMLA.

The BJP, meanwhile, fielded two leaders who had won in 2015 on AAP tickets. Anil Bajpai will contest from Gandhi Nagar, while Kapil Mishra will contest from Model Town. Three other Congress turncoats – Sanjay Singh (Vikas Puri), Surendra Pal Singh Bittu (Timarpur) and SC Vats (Shakur Basti) – are also contesting for BJP. AAP has also fielded nine defectors, including five Congress leaders who joined the party only a day before. Ram Singh Netaji (Badarpur) and Vinay Mishra (Dwarka) were among the last-minute turncoats. Dhanwati Chandela, who lost to BJP/SAD's Manjinder Singh Sirsa in Rajouri Garden on a Congress ticket, is contesting from the same seat for AAP.

Rajkumari Dhillon, also a former Congress leader is AAP's candidate from Hari Nagar. She will fight BJP's Tajinder Bagga in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.