923 candidates in fray in Delhi polls

New Delhi, Jan 21: Over 920 candidates are in the fray for the February 7 big-ticket Delhi Assembly elections which include BJP's chief ministerial nominee Kiran Bedi, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leader Ajay Maken, who filed their nominations on Wednesday.

While Bedi will contest from BJP stronghold of Krishna Nagar in east Delhi, Kejriwal will seek re-election from the prestigious New Delhi constituency where he had defeated three-time chief minister Sheila Dikshit by a record over 22,000 votes last time.

"923 candidates, including Independents, have filed their nomination papers for the upcoming Assembly elections," said a senior official at the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer's office.

While the total number of nominations filed was 1404, over 250 Independents also filed their nominations. Some of them filed more than one nomination.

Meanwhile, the official said a total of 117 FIRs has been lodged against different political parties till January 20 for violation of the Model Code of Conduct, which came into force on January 12.

"Out of the 117 FIRs, 52 have been registered against AAP while 22 have been lodged against BJP. Twenty-six and 10 FIRs were lodged against Congress and BSP, respectively," the official said.

Till yesterday, a total 10,569 persons have been booked under various sections of CrPC/Delhi Police Act, and as preventive measures 110 licensed arms were deposited, 11 unlicensed arm and 1039 cartridges were seized, he said.

PTI