The triangular contest for the bypoll to Rajouri Garden Assembly seat is set to happen on Sunday. The fate of the AAP, the BJP and the Congress hangs in the balance for this Assembly seat, two years after the city’s political dynamics saw a radical shift.
The Chief Electoral Office of Delhi said along with the EVMs, the reliability of which has been questioned by the AAP, voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPATs) will be used at all the 166 polling stations in the West Delhi constituency.
The seat fell vacant early this year after AAP’s Jarnail Singh quit as MlA to contest for the Punjab Assembly poll against SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal, only to lose and considerably dent AAP’s chances of holding on to the seat.
The election office has also prescribed an additional measure by adding provision for printing the photograph of candidates on the ballot paper to be displayed on the EVMs, said an official statement.
The AAP has come up with a new face — Harjeet Singh — while the Congress has fielded Meenakshi Chandela, who belongs to a politically influential family in the area.
The BJP-SAD combine has fielded veteran Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who had won the seat in 2013.
Other candidates who are also in the fray are: Hardeep Singh (Independent), lalit Taak (All India Forward Bloc) and Devinder Singh Nagi (Purvanchal Mahapanchayat).
Rajouri Garden constituency is a mix of a resettlement colonies in Raghubir Nagar, unauthorised colonies in Vishnu Garden, urban villages like Khyala, the middle class Tagore Garden and upscale Rajouri Garden.
The AAP had won the majority of 67 seats out of the total of 70 in the Delhi Assembly elections 2015, while the BJP had taken a number three and the Congress which ruled the Capital for 15 years was reduced to a shocking zero. The election is going to be an interesting one with all eyes on the party that gains ground again.