Embed Input field to Hyperlink in MVC - asp.net-mvc

Question

Is it possible to pass an hidden field value from Razor View to Controller inside or tag? As the field is hidden, it is really a problem to pass its value to the Controller. On the other hand I think the only way to pass this hidden field is using input field inside hyperlink. How to create a code like below?
<a href="/Admin/Delete?ApplicantID=44">
<img class="myclass" src="../../Content/delete.png" title="Delete" />
<input type="hidden" value= "Delete" /></a>
Updates
View:
...
grid.Column("Actions", format: (item) =>
new HtmlString(
#Html.ActionImage("../../Content/detail.png", "Detail", "icon-link", "Detail", "Admin", new { applicantId = item.ApplicantID }).ToString() +
#Html.ActionImage("../../Content/edit.png", "Edit", "icon-link", "Edit", "Admin", new { applicantId = item.ApplicantID }).ToString() +
#Html.ActionImage("../../Content/delete.png", "Delete", "icon-link", "Delete", "Admin", new { applicantId = item.ApplicantID }).ToString()
)
)
...
Controller:
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Delete(int applicantId)
{
Applicant deletedApplicant = repository.DeleteApplicant(applicantId);
if (deletedApplicant != null)
{
TempData["message"] = string.Format("{0} was deleted",
deletedApplicant.Name);
}
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
}
Helper Method:
public static MvcHtmlString ActionImage(this HtmlHelper html, string imagePath, string alt, string cssClass,
string action, string controllerName, object routeValues)
{
var currentUrl = new UrlHelper(html.ViewContext.RequestContext);
var imgTagBuilder = new TagBuilder("img");
imgTagBuilder.MergeAttribute("src", currentUrl.Content(imagePath));
imgTagBuilder.MergeAttribute("title", alt);
imgTagBuilder.MergeAttribute("class", cssClass);
string imgHtml = imgTagBuilder.ToString(TagRenderMode.SelfClosing);
var anchorTagBuilder = new TagBuilder("a");
anchorTagBuilder.MergeAttribute("href", currentUrl.Action(action, controllerName, routeValues));
anchorTagBuilder.InnerHtml = imgHtml;
string anchorHtml = anchorTagBuilder.ToString(TagRenderMode.Normal);
return MvcHtmlString.Create(anchorHtml);
}

Answer 1

<input>, <textarea>, <button> and <select> element values are only passed during a form submission. Moreover, they are only passed on when assigned a name attribute.
Clicking an anchor will not pass these values (unless you interject with some JavaScript and append it to the URL). The easiest method is to turn your link in to a mini form:
#using (Html.BeginForm("Delete", "Admin", FormMethod.POST,
new { ApplicantID = #Model.ApplicantID }))
{
<!-- make sure to give this field a name -->
<input type="hidden" name="???" value="Delete" />
<input type="image" src="#Url.Content("~/Content/delete.png")" title="Delete" />
}
Otherwise, use javascript and bind to the anchor's click event and inject the hidden input's value before proceeding.

Answer 2

Based on discussion below, try this.
#Ajax.ActionLink("Delete",
"Delete", new { applicantid = item.applicantid },
new AjaxOptions
{
Confirm = "Delete?",
HttpMethod = "POST",
}, new { #class = "classname" })
a.classname
{
background: url(~/Content/delete.png) no-repeat top left;
display: block;
width: 150px;
height: 150px;
text-indent: -9999px; /* hides the link text */
}
NOTE: this does not need to be inside a form.