Many challenges to early Delhi polls, say experts

New Delhi
There is a multitude of challenges, such as shortened preparation time, electoral roll revision and EVM checks, among others, in holding early elections this November instead of the tentative schedule of February 2025, experts said, after Delhi chief minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced his decision to resign from his post.
Kejriwal said on Sunday that the party would elect a successor as a CM, experts pointed out.
“Arvind Kejriwal has announced that he will resign. His resignation will lead to the dissolution of the cabinet but not the assembly. He has also announced that the AAP legislative party will elect a successor. Though the Election Commission of India (ECI) can conduct state assembly election six months before the date of expiration of the assembly’s tenure, the dissolution of the assembly may pave the way for the early election to be held. So, without the dissolution of the assembly, the possibility of holding early election is low. It is the ECI, which has to take a final call on this,” a former chief electoral officer of Delhi, who did not want to be named, said.
Under Section 15 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, ECI can notify general elections to the state assembly six months before the date of expiration of the assembly’s tenure. The current term of the Delhi assembly is set to expire on February 11, 2025.
The last assembly election in Delhi was held on February 8, 2020. AAP secured 62 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 8 seats in the 70-member assembly. Arvind Kejriwal took oath as the CM on February 16, the third time since 2013 when he first won the polls.
Officials from the office of the chief electoral officer of Delhi said ECI announced the special summary revision of the photo electoral roll in August, keeping in mind the tentative schedule of February 2025 for the state polls. The ongoing exercise is scheduled to conclude in early January 2025, and the final publication of electoral rolls is planned for January 6, 2025.
“For Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand, the special summary revision was started months before the special summary revision in Delhi. So, it may be one of the challenges in conducting early polls in Delhi because the final electoral roll has to be published on January 6, for which an elaborate exercise is already going on,” an official, not wanting to be named, said.
The official said that besides the special summary revision, other preparations are also required, such as conducting first-level checking of electronic voting machines (EVMs) to ensure that EVMs kept in storage are in fine working condition, and holding meetings with representatives of political parties, government, police and security agencies for smooth conduct of the elections.
“Ideally, three to six months are required for making the necessary preparations for conducting the elections,” the former Delhi CEO said.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that Arvind Kejriwal’s demands for early election was full of contradictions. “If Arvind Kejriwal wants an early election he should recommend the dissolution of the assembly to pave the way for the early election. But instead of dissolving the assembly, he is talking about the election of a new chief minister. It is nothing but a drama to get headlines and mislead people,” he said.
Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav said: “Congress is fully prepared for the assembly election in Delhi any day, and we are prepared to contest all 70 assembly seats. But I believe that Arvind Kejriwal is not serious about getting early elections done in Delhi.”
The latest electoral roll data of Delhi was shared in May, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Delhi has 15,201,936 voters across 70 assembly constituencies as of May 7 — 885,483 more electors than those registered in 2019.
Sanjay Kumar, professor and co-director of Lokniti at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), said that according to rules, ECI is empowered to call early elections if the remaining term of the assembly is fewer than six months.
“The reasons behind Kejriwal’s decision to call for early election appears to be an attempt to create public sympathy on the jailing of AAP leaders, including himself, in the excise case. Kejriwal understands well that it is only now that he will may get some sympathy if he tries to go to polls. As time passes, the possibility of him getting sympathy over jailing of AAP leaders is likely to fade,” Kumar said.