Delhi Election Highlights: ‘Show proof of swimming pool at CM's house,' AAP tells BJP

Delhi Congress chief Devendra Yadav hit out at AAP after EC announced Delhi assembly election schedule.

“On 5th February, the people of Delhi will vote for change as they are fed up with the unfulfilled promises of the AAP government and want change... The people of Delhi will get relief from the huge mountains of garbage, drains and bad condition of roads... I appeal to the people of Delhi to come out in large numbers to vote for the Congress party,” Yadav told ANI

AAP's Sanjay Singh challenges BJP to provide proof of swimming pool inside Delhi CM's residence. “The truth should come to light. BJP claims that there is a swimming pool inside Delhi CM's residence. I challenge. Tomorrow at 11 am, we will go with the media to Delhi CM’s residence and will look for a toilet made of gold and a swimming pool,” Singh said at a press conference

BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj hit out at ruling AAP, accusing it of “enjoying fruits of power”.

"This is a festival of democracy, and I request the people of Delhi, especially the youth, to come out in large numbers and vote for change, because for the last decade in Delhi, there has been the Aam Aadmi Party that has ensured that it only enjoys the fruits of power, but did not take the onus of responsibility towards the citizens of Delhi.

Now it is time to build a progressive Delhi, a healthy Delhi, a Delhi that is going to become a world-class city with proper infrastructure. For that, what is required is a BJP double-engine govt model in Delhi as well," Swaraj told PTI

BJP MP from North East Delhi, Manoj Tiwari, welcomed the Delhi assembly election dates announcement.

“A very good date has been announced. The election is on a working day, so definitely more and more people will be able to vote. Delhi was voting for this time, and Delhi is very happy that they will elect their new govt on Feb 5, which will relieve from them from polluted air and water. I request everyone to cast their vote on Feb 5,” he told PTI.

"Awakened" people will teach a lesson to the BJP in upcoming elections, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Tuesday. "Narendra Modi ji, is there any plan to increase public savings in the budget, or will you continue to trouble the public with backbreaking inflation," Kharge asked in a post in Hindi on social platform X.

“They did the same thing three months back. When I was elected as the CM, the belongings of me and my family were thrown on the streets. BJP thinks they will stop our work by snatching our houses, abusing us and making below-the-belt remarks about our families. But, I want to tell people of Delhi that the work won't stop even if they take away our home,” Atishi added.

Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj says,“BJP doesn’t care to work for the people of Delhi. They don’t care if children are getting education, or if people are getting electricity. All they do is to do something against AAP leaders.

Today, BJP has done something that we couldn’t think of. BJP has once again removed Delhi CM Atishi’s belongings from her official residence. You all must remember when they did it earlier as well. I don't think this would have happened anywhere in the world before

Delhi chief minister Atishi alleged that the BJP is targeting her family members. “The more you target us, we will work with more enthusiasm,” she said.

“A day before poll dates announcement, the BJP-led Centre forcefully evicted me from the official CM residence,” claims Atishi

CEC Rajiv Kumar asserted that not a single discrepancy has been found in votes counted through electronic voting machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips.

"Let me tell the nation today. After the Supreme Court mandated in 2019 that five VVPATs must be counted from each assembly constituency, over 67,000 VVPATs have been checked. This translates to more than 4.5 crore (VVPAT) slips being verified. And let me assure you that not even the difference of one vote has been found with the new machines since 2019," he said at the press conference

When asked whether there would be any Delhi-related announcements in the Union Budget, CEC Rajiv Kumar said,"The Union Budget will come on February 1 and Delhi will vote on February 5. Today itself, we will issue a standing instruction to the Cabinet Secretary that there should be no announcement related to Delhi in the budget."

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, who addressed his last presser as the CEC on Tuesday, issued clarifications on the questions raised over tampering of voter turnout data and termed it to be an "impossible" feat. Deep dive

Voting on all 70 constituencies of Delhi will take place in a single phase on February 5, while the counting of votes will be happen on February 8, the ECI announced on Tuesday. Here's a complete breakdown of the poll dates schedule in numbers.

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on EC announcing Delhi assembly election dates:"It's good that we now know the date (of polling). We were already working, but once the schedule is announced, the campaign can be done in a timely manner. Much of the preparatory work has already been done by the Congress. Our workers are ready, our agenda is ready, our voter is ready, and we will fight the elections efficiently"

AAP leader Manish Sisodia, contesting from Delhi's Jangpura constituency, said,"I want to congratulate and wish people of Delhi as elections will be held on Feb 5, and people of Delhi will once again elect Arvind Kejriwal, they will once again vote for the party that provides free education to their children, they will once again choose a CM who ensure good healthcare to their families..."

BJP president JP Nadda's first reaction on Delhi assembly election schedule announcement: “I welcome the announcement of Delhi Assembly elections today by the Election Commission of India. Elections are the great festival of democracy. It has a leading role in ensuring the all-round development, public welfare and good governance of the country and the state. I appeal to the people here to make 'Developed Delhi' and elect a government that will contribute to the progress of the people. Under the guidance of respected Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji, BJP is committed to the overall development of Delhi with the resolve of Antyodaya.”

Alka Lamba, the Congress candidate against chief minister Atishi in Kalkaji, told PTI,"I congratulate the people of Delhi. The dates for Delhi elections have been announced. One crore fifty five lakhs people will vote on February 5. The results will come on February 8. I urge the voters to participate in the festival of democracy, their one vote can be decisive in eliminating the problems of Delhi."

Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal's first reaction on Delhi assembly poll dates: “The date of the election has been announced. All the workers should be ready to enter the fray with full strength and enthusiasm. Their big systems fail in front of your passion. You are our biggest strength. This election will be between the politics of work and the politics of abuse. The people of Delhi will have faith in our politics of work. We will definitely win.”

Delhi Election Live Updates: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that the poll panel cannot comment on freebies as the issue is sub judice. He added that freebies cannot be clearly defined, as they may be considered entitlements by some.

Delhi Election Live Updates: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that CCTV footage from inside and outside polling booths will be excluded from the list of documents to be shared, in order to protect the privacy of voters.

Delhi Election Live Updates: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced on Tuesday that voting for the Delhi assembly elections will take place in a single phase on February 5, with results to be declared on February 8.

Delhi Election Live Updates: Delhi Election Live Updates: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar shared key details about the upcoming Delhi assembly elections. Delhi has 70 constituencies—58 general and 12 reserved for Scheduled Castes. The total voter count stands at 1.55 crore, with 83.49 lakh male voters and 71.74 lakh female voters. Among them, 25.89 lakh are young voters, and 2.08 lakh are first-time voters. There are 830 centenarian voters and 1,261 transgender voters. Additionally, 1.09 lakh voters are aged 85 and above. The elections will be held across 13,033 polling stations, spread across 2,697 polling locations.

Delhi Election Live Updates: CEC Rajiv Kumar while addressing the allegations of EVM tampering, said, “courts have ruled on 42 occasions that EVMs are not hackable, allegations of tampering totally baseless.”

Delhi Election Live Updates: Addressing the concerns raised by political parties over the electoral process, Rajiv Kumar said, “30 states polls have been done since 2020, in 15 states, diff parties are the biggest parties. It is one reflection of the fairness of indian elections.”

“Process can't be judged by results,” he said.

The concerns that CEC Rajiv Kumar is addressing are:

• Wrongful additions or deletions in ER, groups targeted
• EVMs manipulated
• VTR increases from 5 pm onwards
• Mismatch in votes polled and counted in some ACs
• Counting slowed down
• Changed rules to restrict transparency