Polling for 70 Assembly seats in Delhi ends, results on February 11
Election Commission officials said that though the voting has ended, people who are still in queue will be allowed to cast their vote. In 2015, the voter turnout was 67.12 per cent.
The voting in 70 Assembly seats in Delhi has ended, with the voter turnout remaining low. At 6 pm, the scheduled time for the end of polling in Delhi Assembly elections, 54.65 per cent of 1.46 crore voters had exercised their franchise.
Election Commission officials said that though the voting has ended, people who are still in queue will be allowed to cast their vote. In 2015, the voter turnout was 67.12 per cent.
In a few minutes, exit polls will be out which will predict the outcome of Delhi Assembly elections. Unlike an opinion poll, which happens before the election, exit polls ask people who they have actually voted for.
Delhi Assembly Election 2020: Follow live updates here
The fate of 672 candidates in 70 assembly constituencies has been sealed after today’s voting. The counting of votes will take place on February 11.
Delhi is witnessing a triangular contest between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the BJP and the Congress. AAP had swept the Assembly elections last time, winning 67 of the 70 seats. The BJP had won three and Congress drew a blank.
The AAP is hoping to better its 2015 performance. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that he hopes the people of Delhi will vote on the basis of work done and AAP will form the government again. Kejriwal cast his vote along with his father, mother and wife at a polling booth in Rajpura Transport Authority in Civil Lines area amid tight security.
Kejriwal is contesting Assembly elections from New Delhi seat and is pitted against Sunil Yadav from BJP and Romesh Sabharwal from Congress.
There are 81,05,236 male voters, 66,80,277 female voters and 869 third gender voters in Delhi. They queued up to vote in the 13,570 polling booths across 2,689 areas in the national capital.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Union ministers Harsh Vardhan and S Jaishankar, and BJP leader Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma were among the early voters. They urged the people to come out in large numbers and exercise their democratic right.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also turned up at the polling stations early in the day.
The polling was peaceful, with a single incident of Congress candidate from Chandni Chowk Alka Lamba trying to slap an AAP worker being reported from Majnu ka Tila in north Delhi. Lamba said she was miffed with the AAP volunteer for his remarks against her son. Though she asked for an FIR to be registered, the police said the issue was resolved.
A polling official, Udham Singh, died of cardiac at a polling station in north-east Delhi. Singh suffered a heart attack while on duty, said officials.
The AAP is contesting all the 70 seats, while the BJP has fielded its candidates on 67 seats and has left three seats for its allies - two for Janata Dal (United) and one for Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). Congress, meanwhile, is contesting on 66 seats and has given four seats to its ally Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
(An election exit poll, not always known to be correct, is a poll of voters taken immediately after they exit the polling stations.)
