Polling for keenly contested Delhi assembly elections involving AAP, INC & BJP + concludes: results on Tuesday

Polling for electing 70 members to the Delhi Legislative Assembly concluded on Saturday, February 8 ending high octane campaign by the ruling AAP, BJP + and INC. Congress lost power in 2015 after fifteen years of uninterrupted rule to the AAP which had promised to root out corruption and have given freebies to a large number of citizens including women .Bihar based  JD-U and Lok Janshakti Party are in electoral alliance with BJP. Voters of the richest and most populated Union Territory will have to wait for the results which will be declared three days later on February 11. The contest is confined between the AAP and BJP which is trying to return to power after two decades. Over 1.47 crore people were eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 672 candidates who are contesting in 58 general and 12 reserved constituencies for Scheduled Castes fielded by BJP +, AAP and INC. The polling began at 8 am and ended at 6 pm IST. Security forces kept a tight watch across the 70 constituencies, with police and paramilitary personnel keeping an “extra vigil” in sensitive areas like Shaheen Bagh, Jamia Nagar and Seelampuri. There are over 81 lakh male voters, 66.80 lakh female voters, and 869 third-gender voters, Delhi Election Commission said. Prominent candidates in the fray include Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, Atishi and Raghav Chadha of the AAP; four former mayors — Azad Singh, Yogendra Chandolia, Ravinder Gupta and Khushi Ram fielded by BJP, and Shivani Chopra, daughter of Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra.”Please go to cast vote. A special appeal to all the women – As your shoulder the responsibility at home, likewise, the responsibility of the country and Delhi is on your shoulders,” Kejriwal tweeted. “All of you women do cast your vote and take along men with you. Do discuss with men about voting for whom will be right,” the chief minister added president J P Nadda also appealed to all the voters to vote in large numbers. BJP president J P Nadda also appealed to all the voters to vote in large numbers. “Each vote of you is important for the unity and integrity of the country and holistic development of Delhi. Your vote only will script the golden future of Delhi. ‘Pehle Matdan, Phir Japan’. Jai Hind,” Nadda tweeted. There were 13,750 polling booths, besides one auxiliary booth, located at 2,689 locations across Delhi. “As far as critical polling stations are concerned, there are 516 locations and 3,704 booths in that category,” Singh said. Besides police security, polling stations falling in the “critical category” have got the paramilitary cover. Among the prominent voters who exercised franchise were President Ram Nath Kovind, his spouse Savita (in photo above), Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh,  former Deputy PM Lal Krishna Adavani, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Robert Vadra, Priyanka  Gandhi Vadra, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan, his cabinet colleague S. Jaishankar, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, Delhi BJP  President Manoj Tiwari, Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi and Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal . (edited by PK Chakravarty)