LS polls in Delhi: Nominations of 173 candidates found valid

Nominations of 173 candidates have been found valid for the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, poll authorities said Wednesday.

As many as 349 candidates had filed nominations from April 16 till Tuesday, the last date to file the papers.

Prominent candidates from the Congress, BJP and AAP, whose nominations were accepted, include Union minister Harsh Vardhan, former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir, Olympic bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh, sufi singer Hans Raj Hans, and Atishi.

"As many as 173 nominations were found valid after scrutiny," a senior official at the Delhi CEO office said.

Many candidates had filed multiple nominations and also put covering candidates, and 173 now is the final figure for nominations filed by as many candidates, belonging to a party or done as independents.

"Once a party's main candidate's nomination is accepted, the nominations of covering candidates are automatically rejected," another poll official said.

The Lok Sabha polls, to be conducted in seven phases, began on April 11 and will continue till May 19.

Delhi, which has seven parliamentary constituencies, will vote on May 12 and the overall results will be declared on May 23.

The seven constituencies are -- New Delhi, South Delhi, West Delhi, East Delhi, North East Delhi, North West Delhi and Chandni Chowk.

Contesting the parliamentary polls after more than two decades, the Congress old-timer and three-time chief minister Dikshit will take on the BJP's Manoj Tiwari and the AAP's Dilip Pandey in a triangular contest in Northeast Delhi, reflective of the overall poll scenario in seven seats in the national capital.

From the BJP, sitting MP from South Delhi Ramesh Bidhuri and New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi filed their nominations apart from Gambhir and Hans on Tuesday.

Three of the BJP candidates -- Union minister Harsh Vardhan, Parvesh Verma and Tiwari had filed their nominations on Monday from Chandni Chowk, West Delhi and North-East Delhi seats respectively.