Delhi elections: Record turnout expected in triangular contest

New Delhi: Polling for the 70-member Delhi assembly elections began Wednesday morning where the Congress is engaged in an electoral battle with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while new entrant Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) possible impact is being watched keenly.

The voting began at 8am at over 11,000 polling stations out of which 630 have been identified as critical and hypercritical.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi cast her vote in the Delhi Assembly election in which her party is eyeing a fourth consecutive victory. Gandhi was accompanied by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to the polling station in Nirman Bhavan at around 10am. She is a voter in the New Delhi constituency from where Dikshit is contesting.

The other two prominent contestants in the constituency are Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and former Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta.

Kejriwal voted at polling booth No. 47 at Hanuman Road at around 8:15am. “People of Delhi will win and corruption will be defeated in the election,” Kejriwal told reporters. Vice-president Hamid Ansari and Delhi’s chief electoral officer Vijay Dev were among the first few to cast their votes. 

 

The entry of Kejriwal’s AAP has changed the dimension of the elections and it will be interesting to see whether the newbie will just be a “spoiler” or win some seats as predicted by opinion polls, riding on its anti-corruption plank.

Facing the toughest battle of her political career, three-time chief minister Dikshit said she has kept her “fingers crossed” on the outcome of the election. “I will keep my fingers crossed,” 75-year-old Dikshit said, refusing to show a victory sign when photographers at her residence requested for it. When asked whether she was worried about AAP’s possible impact, Dikshit said “no”.

Dikshit said her government had ensured inclusive development in the last 15 years and hoped that people of the city will give the ruling party another opportunity to serve them. “I am fighting the polls with confidence. We have ensured consistent development. We followed an agenda of inclusive development. We made Delhi the best city,” sahe said, adding, “the opposition made tall claims and tried to defame us. But people of Delhi know about our performance. I think they will vote considering what will be good for them.”

The chief electoral officer hoped that people will vote in large number to create a new record. “I am confident that people of Delhi will create a new record of polling. There has been huge enthusiasm among the people about the election,” he said.

In 2008 assembly polls, the overall voting percentage was 57.58%.

A total of 11.9 million voters are eligible to exercise their franchise, of which 6.61 million are men and 5.32 million are women. The number of first time voters is 405,000.

A total of 810 candidates are in the fray in the three-cornered contest between the Congress, the BJP and the AAP.

While the BJP has fielded candidates in 66 constituencies, the Congress and the AAP are contesting from all 70 seats.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which was the third largest party in last assembly election, has fielded candidates at 69 seats, the National Congress Party (NCP) in nine and the Samajwadi Party at 27 seats. A total of 224 independents are also in the fray.

A total of 32,801 personnel of Delhi police and 107 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure peaceful elections.

In a bid to boost voter turnout, nine ‘model’ polling stations with spruced-up infrastructure have been set up for the first time.

The elections in Delhi and four other states are being seen as the semi-final for the Lok Sabha polls to be held next year. The stakes in this election are high for Dikshit, who mainly highlighted her achievements and development agenda during the campaigning, while the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan promised to cut power tariff by 30% and slash vegetable prices within 30 days of coming to power.

The BJP has also promised to give 12 subsidized LPG cylinders in a year to each household instead of current nine, besides ensuring full statehood. It has also promised to set up a dedicated Women Security Force to ensure safety of women.

pratima kumari

pgdm 1st sem