BJP candidate from Karawal Nagar constituency Kapil Mishra during a rally before filing his nomination for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.
| Photo Credit: PTI

On the penultimate day of filing nominations for the Delhi Assembly election, the capital witnessed roadshows and rallies, with senior politicians accompanying candidates as they filed their papers.

With only 19 days left to polling, parties pulled out all stops for their campaigns. Candidates were adorned with garlands amidst sloganeering. Several strong contenders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress held massive roadshows with senior party leaders from their respective parties ahead of filing their nominations. A total of 555 candidates filed their papers on Thursday.

Harish Khurrana, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Kapil Mishra and Arvinder Singh Lovely were among the 22 BJP candidates who filed their papers.

“22 BJP candidates from Delhi filed their nominations during the auspicious ‘Vijay Muhurat’ for the upcoming Assembly election. The overwhelming presence of supporters, accompanied by drum beats and celebrations, signals a transformation in Delhi, as the public rejects the current AAP government,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.

“On February 8, a ‘double engine government’ will free Delhi from pollution. People will now reject the broom (the AAP’s symbol) and embrace the lotus (the BJP’s symbol),” Mr. Sachdeva said.

“The Delhi State government has been absent for the past 10 years in terms of development. All major initiatives, including the Pragati Maidan tunnel, PM Museum, Kartavya Path, and Eastern-Western Peripheral highways have been carried out by the Central government,” BJP MP and Delhi election in-charge and MP Baijayant Panda said.

Senior leaders from the AAP and Congress also hit the campaign trail. Sandeep Dikshit, son of the late former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, started the journey to file his nomination papers from the Congress headquarters in a rally was marked by slogans and party’s symbols.

Mr. Dikshit said that as the MLA of the New Delhi Assembly constituency, former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had failed completely, and the people of the constituency were missing their beloved leader, Sheila Dikshit. He said no new developmental work has been undertaken in the area during Mr. Kejriwal’s tenure.

Several senior Congress leaders were present as Mr. Dikshit filed his papers, including All India Congress Committee (AICC) treasurer Ajay Maken, AICC’s head of media and publicity Pawan Khera, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devendra Yadav, and head of the All India Unorganised Workers and Employees Congress Udit Raj.

In Jangpura, candidates of both the AAP and the Congress, former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Farhad Suri, respectively, filed their papers in the presence of a large crowd of supporters. Ahead of filing his nomination, Mr. Suri was greeted by party workers sloganeering “sher aya sher aya (the lion is here)“.

Mr. Sisodia visited a temple prior to filing his papers. His family also conducted a small ceremony, offering him and his wife, Seema Sisodia, ‘dahi-cheeni’ (curd and sugar) for good luck, and applying a ceremonial tilak.

“With a firm commitment to serve the people with honesty and dedication, I have filed my nomination from Jangpura. This is yet another step towards realising Arvind Kejriwal’s vision of honest politics. I am confident that the love, respect, and blessings showered on Arvind Kejriwal’s team across Delhi over the past decade will remain unwavering in this election as well,” Mr. Sisodia said.

Cabinet Ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Gopal Rai filed their papers from the Greater Kailash and Babarpur Assembly constituencies, respectively.

Candidates from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), and several independent candidates, also filed their nomination papers.

The Assembly election in Delhi is slated for February 5. The last day for filing nomination papers is January 17 and the last day for withdrawing nominations is January 20.

The results will be announced on February 8.