New Delhi: Voting in Delhi Assembly election picked up as the day progressed, with a higher turnout on seats in trans-Yamuna districts. VIP seats like Arvind Kejriwal’s New Delhi recorded 30.86 per cent voting and Chief Minister Atishi’s Kalkaji constituency recorded a 28.75 per cent turnout till 1 pm.
Till about half-time of voting hours, North East Delhi voters showed great enthusiasm as Mustafabad seat recorded a 43.25 per cent turnout till 1 pm – with another five hours of balloting remaining. Seelampur’s turnout was 40.25 per cent, Gokalpur 39.52 per cent and Karawal Nagar 39.18 per cent.
The voting exercise remained largely peaceful barring a brief commotion over alleged bogus voting in Seelampur and allegations of poll code violation made by some candidates, including the AAP’s Jangpura nominee and former Deputy Delhi Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
Sisodia alleged that rival parties were giving money to voters, a charge which was dismissed by police as “unsubstantiated”.
His party colleague and AAP MP Raghav Chadha alleged that at many polling booths in New Delhi constituency, the party’s polling agents and their relievers faced problems in entry.
Former Chief Minister and AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal and his wife gave up their car and walked down to their polling booth. Both of them escorted their parents, both on wheelchairs, to the booth to a school close to their Ferozeshah Road residence.
Kejriwal’s BJP rival Parvesh Verma performed religious rituals on the Yamuna bank before proceeding to cast his vote with his wife and daughter at the Nirman Bhawan booth.
Congress candidate from New Delhi Sandeep Dikshit cast his vote at a booth on Rahim Khan Road and later accompanied other party leaders including members of the Gandhi family – Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka – to their respective polling booths.
Earlier, 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.
In the North District, the flying squad of the election department reached Sainik Vihar polling station in Shalimar Bagh area on receiving a complaint that police personnel were forcing a voter to back a particular party. Later, the District Election Office, North, dismissed the complaint as false.
Till 1 pm, the North East district recorded the highest 39.51 per cent voting, Shahdara district recorded a 35.81 per cent turnout, South West 35.44 per cent, North West 33.17 per cent, South 32.67 per cent, North 32.44 per cent, South East 32.27 per cent, West 30.87 per cent, Central 29.74 per cent and New Delhi 29.89 per cent.
The turnout in the 2020 Delhi Assembly election stood at 62.82 per cent, 4.65 per cent lower than 67.47 per cent in 2015. In 2013, the turnout was 66.02 per cent, 8.42 per cent higher than 2008’s 57.6 per cent.
In 2020, the AAP won 62 out of 70 seats with a vote share of 53.57 per cent. The BJP won eight seats with a 38.51 per cent vote share. The Congress got 4.26 per cent of votes and others polled 3.66 per cent votes.
In 2015, the AAP won 67 seats with a 54.34 per cent vote share. The BJP won 3 seats with a 32.19 per cent vote share. The Congress bagged 9.65 per cent votes and others got 3.82 per cent votes.
(IANS)
