Election officials hope of a 70-75 pc voter turnout, figures yet to be released by the panel.
New Delhi: Amid brisk polling, an estimated 48 per cent of around 1.2 crore voters exercised their franchise till 3 PM in Delhi Assembly election, which is witnessing a tight triangular contest among ruling Congress, BJP and debutant Aam Admi Party.
"It has been a good turnout all over Delhi. We are hoping the final percentage of voting will be between 70 and 75 per cent," Delhi's Chief Electoral officer Vijay Dev told PTI. Top officials in the Delhi Election Commission said that 48 per cent of the electorate had cast their votes till 3 PM.
"Thirty-four per cent of the electorate have cast their votes till 1 PM. The polling has so far been peaceful and there were no reports of any untoward incident," top officials in the Delhi Election Commission said.
Polling for the 70-member Delhi Assembly elections began at 8 AM at over 11,000 polling stations out of which 630 have been identified as critical and hyper critical. A total of 1.19 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise, out of which 66.11 lakh are men and 53.20 lakh are women. The number of first time voters is 4.05 lakh.
"17 per cent of the electorate have cast their votes till 11 AM. The polling has so far been peaceful and there were no reports of any untoward incident," top officials in the Delhi Election Commission said.
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Vice President Hamid Ansari, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, BJP's chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan were among the early voters.
Ansari reached New Delhi constituency's polling booth no 8586 at Nirman Bhavan at around 8:10 AM in He was among the first few citizens to vote at the booth, where other high-profile voters like Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit are to also cast their ballot.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi today 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 10 AM. She is a voter in the New Delhi constituency from where Dikshit is contesting.
After casting her vote, Sonia exuded confidence of her party's fourth straight victory in polls. "We will win," she said with a smile outside Nirman Bhavan polling booth.
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Dikshit, Kejriwal and former city BJP chief Vijendra Gupta are among candidates in fray from the New Delhi constituency. Dev exercised his franchise at 8 AM at polling booth no 47 at Hanuman Road in the constituency.
He was the first voter at the booth. 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.
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There were reports of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVM) in some parts of the city but they were rectified, election officials said. The EVM at polling booth in Aurangazeb Lane, where Rahul cast his vote, malfunctioned when polling began.
In New Delhi, Jungpura, Badli, Krishna Nagar and Kondli constituencies, some voters complained that their names have been struck from the electoral rolls and they could not vote. "I have a voter card. But still I could not vote as my name was not there in the electoral roll," said a voter in New Delhi constituency.
Election Commission officials said around 38 per cent women voters and 32 per cent men have cast their ballot till 1 PM. The voting began at 8 AM at 11,753 polling booths out of which 630 have been identified as critical and hyper critical.
In 2008 assembly polls, the overall voting percentage was 57.58 per cent. Kejriwal voted at the same booth at around 8:15 AM. "People of Delhi will win and corruption will be defeated in the election," he told reporters.
A total of 810 candidates are in the fray in the three-cornered contest between Congress, BJP and AAP. While BJP has fielded candidates in 66 constituencies Congress and AAP are contesting from all 70 seats.
BSP, which was the third largest party in last Assembly election, has fielded candidates at 69 seats, NCP in nine and 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.
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The entry of Arvind 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. 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 three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who mainly highlighted her achievements and development agenda during the campaigning, while BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan promised to cut power tariff by 30 per cent and slash vegetable prices within 30 days of coming to power.
The BJP has also promised to give 12 subsidised 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.
In its manifesto, Congress has promised to set up a Single Command System to address the problems of multiplicity of authorities and a common economic zone for the entire National Capital Region to minimise load on Delhi's infrastructure. It has also promised to construct double- decker flyovers to ease traffic congestion.
The AAP said it will pass the Jan Lokpal Bill within 15 days of coming to power, besides promising to cut power tariff by 50 per cent. It said 700 litres of water per day will be given free to each household.
