Delhi polls on Feb 8

New Delhi: Elections to the Delhi State Assembly will be held on February 8 and the counting of votes will take place on February 11.

"Over 13,000 polling stations will be set up and about 90,000 officers will be deployed for the state elections," Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said on Monday.

Arora said the notification for the elections will be issued on January 14. The last date for filing of nomination would be January 21, the scrutiny of nominations will take place till January 22 and the last date to withdraw the nominations would be January 24, the CEC said.

With the announcement of the poll dates, the Model Code of Conduct came into effect from Monday.

The term of the 70-member Delhi Assembly is ending on February 22 and a new House has to be constituted before that.

The election is likely to witness a three-cornered contest involving the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, the BJP and the Congress.

Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi is eyeing for a second consecutive term banking on a slew of announcement in the last one year, including free ride for women in buses, free water and electricity. AAP came to power in February 2015 sweeping 67 of the 70 Assembly seats in the state elections.

The BJP is trying to woo Purvanchali vote bank with the help of singer turned politician Manoj Tiwari and leaders like Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Parvesh Varma as strong pillars.