Delhi CM Kejriwal blocked by BJP planted pawns for filing nomination, claims AAP MLA

AAP leader and Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal successfully filed his nomination for the upcoming assembly elections on Wednesday, January 21, an AAP MLA claimed that he was allegedly blocked by BJP candidates at the RO office. The AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj on Tuesday said that around 35 candidates were sitting at Returning Officer's (RO) office without proper nomination papers to delay CM Kejriwal’s turn. This came after CM Kejriwal failed to file his nomination on Monday, January 20 owing to the delay caused by his massive road show.  

AAP MLA alleges BJP for interrupting nomination filing process 

Alleging that BJP MLAs were purposely sitting with incomplete papers to delay CM Kejriwal’s nomination for the assembly elections, the AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Around 35 candidates were sitting at RO office without proper nomination papers, even without names of 10 proposers. They were insisting that unless their papers are complete, they would not give chance to the other candidates behind them to file nomination. They were not allowing CM Kejriwal to file nomination. BJP is behind these people." 

Read: Kejriwal to avail his last chance of filing nomination on January 21

Why was CM Kejriwal late on January 20 to file his nomination? 

Prior to filing his nomination on Monday, January 20, the Aam Aadmi Party Chief sought blessings at the Valmiki temple and his parents' blessings ahead of his rally. The roadshow which started from Connaught Place via Panchkuian Marg into the Inner Circle and then towards the Outer Circle on to Baba Kharak Singh Marg ended near Patel Chowk Metro station. Thousands of supporters were seen holding brooms as Kejriwal waved to them and flashed the victory sign amid chants of "acchhe beete panch saal, lage raho Kejriwal".  

Read: Kejriwal misses deadline to file Delhi election nomination after AAP roadshow gets late

He was accompanied by his family, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and AAP leader Sanjay Singh in his open jeep. Owing to these reasons he arrived late at the nomination office on Monday. As per the directives issued by ECI, January 21, Tuesday was the last day for the candidates to file nominations, thus, he filed his nomination on January 21. 

Read: 'Kejriwal vs Who?' unanswered, Delhi CM plans padayatra to file polls nomination

Delhi Assembly Elections  

The national capital will go to polls in a single-phase on February 8 and the counting of votes will take place on February 11. The last day of filing nominations for the candidates was on January 21 and the last day to withdraw nominations will be on January 24. The BJP and Congress are yet to name their Chief Ministerial faces. 

For the BJP, names such as Manoj Tiwari, Hardeep Puri and Harsh Vardhan have been touted, though Amit Shah has stated in the absence of a formal name that the BJP would contest under PM Modi's leadership. The ruling AAP is contesting the election with Kejriwal leading them. Similarly, Congress has not yet announced its CM face as well.  

Read: Kejriwal kick-starts his nomination rally