Delhi Assembly polls: 55 percent votes casts till 4 pm, EC says turnout may touch record 70 per cent
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- Category: Delhi political News
- Last Updated: Thursday, 22 January 2015 20:51
Delhi Assembly polls: 55 percent votes casts till 4 pm, EC says turnout may touch record 70 per cent
04:30 pm: A record 70 per cent turnout is expected in Delhi, said an Election Commission official on Wednesday, attributing it to brisk voting in the last two hours at polling stations.
"The way polling has gone till now, there is no doubt the percentage might cross 70 per cent," an official said.
The polling was moderate in the initial hours, but it started picking up after 3 pm.
04:10pm: 55 per cent voting has been recorded till 4 pm.
03:15 pm: 48 per cent voting has been recorded till 3 pm.
Voting picked up in the national capital towards the afternoon with 48 per cent of electors exercising their franchise till 3 pm, a statement by the Delhi Election Commission said on Wednesday.
"In the Delhi assembly election 2013, the turnout till 3 pm is around 48 per cent," the statement said.
01:54 pm: 34 per cent voting has been recorded till 1 pm.
11:35 pm: 17 per cent voting has been recorded till 11 am.
10:25 am: Less than 5 per cent voting recorded till 9 am.
10:20 am: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Sheila Dikshit cast their votes in New Delhi constituency.
10:15 am: "I'm happy that people are coming out to vote in large numbers," said Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at New Delhi constituency where she is contesting from.
She denied that there was any effect of BJP's Pm candidate Narendra Modi on the voters.
"Mr Modi has no connection with elections in Delhi," she told reporters.
10:00 am: Fought election with confidence, says Sheila Dikshit
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday said the Congress fought the assembly election with confidence.
The three-term Delhi chief minister said her party had constantly worked for Delhi's development.
"There has been constant and inclusive development. (The opposition) make casual comments about corruption, which is totally wrong," she said.
08:10 am: Vice President Hamid Ansari, Aam Aadmi Party Chief Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev were among the first few to cast their votes in the Delhi Assembly election on Wednesday.
08:00 am: Polling begins in Delhi
Polling for the 70-membered Delhi Assembly elections began on Wednesday morning where ruling Congress is engaged in an electoral battle with BJP, while new entrant in the fray Aam Aadmi Party's possible impact is being watched keenly.
The voting began at 8 am at over 11,000 polling stations out of which 630 have been identified as critical and hyper critical.
A total of 1.19 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise, out of which 66.11 lakh are men and 53.20 lakh are women. The number of first time voters is 4.05 lakh.
A total of 810 candidates are in the fray in the three-cornered contest between Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party.
Bahujan Samaj Party, which was the third largest party in last Assembly election, has fielded candidates for 69 seats, Nationalist Congress Party in nine and Samajwadi Party at 27 seats. A total of 224 independents are also in the fray.
A total of 32,801 personnel of Delhi Police and 107 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure peaceful elections.
The elections in Delhi and four other states are being seen as the semi-final for the Lok Sabha, the Assembly of People polls to be held next year.
The BJP has also promised to give 12 subsidised LPG cylinders in a year to each household instead of current nine, besides ensuring full statehood. It has also promised to set up a dedicated Women Security Force to ensure safety of women.
In its manifesto, Congress has promised to set up a Single Command System to address the problems of multiplicity of authorities and a common economic zone for the entire National Capital Region to minimise load on Delhi's infrastructure. It has also promised to construct double- decker flyovers to ease traffic congestion.
The AAP said it will pass the Jan Lokpal Bill within 15 days of coming to power, besides promising to cut power tariff by 50 per cent. It said 700 litres of water per day will be given free to each household.