New Delhi: The national capital is witnessing polling for the 70-member Assembly on Saturday (February 8). The poll will decide the fate of 672 candidates from the Aam Aadmi Party, BJP and Congress in a three-cornered contest.
Voters congregated at polling booths across the capital since morning and till 10 am, 4.33% voter turnout has been witnessed in Delhi assembly polls, said an ANI report.
Among early voters were Delhi's Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal who cast his vote with family at Greater Kailash. AAP's sitting MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj is contesting against BJP's Shikha Rai and Congress's Sukhbir Pawar from the constituency.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with his family also cast his vote at a polling booth in Civil Lines. Kejriwal is being challenged by BJP's Sunil Yadav and Congress's Romesh Sabharwal from the New Delhi constituency.
Union Ministers Harsh Vardhan, S Jaishankar and various MPs, including controversial BJP leader Parvesh Sahib Verma, were among the early voters along with their families.
While the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is making a bid to return to power, the BJP is seeking to get its chief minister in Delhi after 20 long years. The Congress, which has ruled Delhi for 15 years, is expecting a resurgence in its vote share.
There are over 1.47 crore eligible voters, including 2.08 lakh first-timers, who will exercise their franchise today between 8 am and 6 pm. The results for the elections will be announced on February 11.
The Election Commission has identified 516 locations and 3,704 polling booths as critical voting stations where paramilitary forces have been deployed. Activities at each polling stations are being monitored through webcasting.
The police have deployed around 40,000 security personnel, 19,000 home guards and 190 companies of Central Armed Police Forces to ensure smooth conduct of the polls.
