Delhi election: 33.31% turnout till 1 pm

Delhi recorded a turnout of 33.31% till 1 pm as young and old voters turned out to cast ballots to choose a new 70-member Assembly on Wednesday, an official said.   

The exercise remained largely peaceful with voting percentage rising quickly after a cool morning made way for a warm afternoon.

There was a commotion at a polling booth in Seelampur where a bogus voter was caught casting a vote on someone else’s identity. The incident occurred at Aryan Public School, Booth Level Officer, Seelampur, Gayatri, said.

Allegations of poll code violations also continued to circulate till afternoon with former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleging that rival parties were giving money to voters, a charge which was dismissed by police.

The turnout in the 2020 Delhi Assembly election stood at 62.82%, 4.65% lower than 67.47% in 2015. In 2013, the turnout was 66.02%, 8.42% higher than 2008’s 57.6%.

In 2020, the AAP won 62 out of 70 seats with a vote share of 53.57%. The BJP won eight seats with a 38.51% vote share. The Congress got 4.26% of votes and others polled 3.66% votes.

In 2015, the AAP won 67 seats with 54.34% vote share. The BJP won 3 seats with a 32.19% vote share. The Congress bagged 9.65% votes and others got 3.82% votes.

Till 11 am on Wednesday, North East Delhi district led the pack with 24.87% turnout and New Delhi district recorded the lowest turnout of 16.46%. Shahdara district recorded the next highest turnout of 23.30%. South West district 21.90%, East district 20.03%, North West and South districts 19.75%, South East 19.66%, and West district 17.67%.

Voting, which began at 7 am, will continue till 6 pm With nearly 3,000 polling booths marked as sensitive, authorities have heightened security with the deployment of 220 paramilitary force companies, 35,626 Delhi Police personnel, and 19,000 Home Guards. Drone surveillance and Quick Reaction Teams have been put in place to ensure law and order.

The elections will decide whether the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) retains its dominance, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stages a comeback, or the Congress re-emerges as a strong contender. The results will be declared on Saturday.

Campaigning ended on Monday at 6 pm after an intense electoral battle. In the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, the AAP secured a landslide victory with 62 out of 70 seats, the BJP won eight, while the Congress failed to win a single seat for the second consecutive time.

(This story was taken from a syndicated feed and was only edited for style by Gujarat Samachar Digital team)

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