Delhi votes today for new Assembly

The polling for 70 Assembly constituencies in the city-state of Delhi is going to be held today from 8 am. The voting will continue till 6 pm.

The polling for 70 Assembly constituencies in the city-state of Delhi is going to be held today from 8 am. The voting will continue till 6 pm. The city has witnessed a triangular contest among the ruling AAP, which won a landslide majority in the last elections, the BJP and the Congress. In the last poll, the AAP had won 67 seats, the BJP 3. The Congress didn't open its account.

If Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is hoping to retain power for the second consecutive term, the BJP is hopeful to return to power by cashing in on polarising of people after the enactment of CAA, which gives citizenship to non-Muslim minority community refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The Congress, which was in power for 15 years at a stretch in Delhi under the leadership of former Chief Minister late Sheila Dixit till the party lost to AAP in 2015 polls, will be hoping for a revival.

The electioneering witnessed top leaders doing rallies for their respective parties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath campaigned for BJP while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi campaigned for his party. For the AAP, Chief Minister Kejriwal remained the key campaigner for his party. The campaigning also saw high-profile leaders making controversial comments against each other. Shaheen Bagh, where the protests against the CAA have been going for a long time now, became one of the key issues in the high-profile campaign.

The ongoing protests at Shaheen Bagh will come to an end within one hour if the BJP forms the government in Delhi, said BJP MP Parvesh Verma. The Election Commission banned him from campaigning for 96 hours. Union Minister Anurag Thakur too was banned for 72 hours for making a controversial statement. On January 31, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh had launched a scathing attack on the BJP citing the firing in Jamia area and had alleged that the BJP wants to disturb peace in Delhi to defer the Assembly polls.

Speaking to ANI, Singh had alleged: "Home Minister Amit Shah wants to disturb the environment of Delhi. First, they made their leaders give instigating speeches. BJP can see defeat in Delhi polls. This conspiracy was hatched out of that fear. The Home Minister is conspiring to postpone polls." The political heavyweights are trying their luck from their old turfs. Chief Minister Kejriwal is contesting from New Delhi seat. BJP has fielded Sunil Yadav against him while Congress has fielded Romesh Sabbarwal from the seat.

AAP's Dillip Pandey is contesting from Timarpur, Atishi from Kalkaji, Raghav Chadha from Rajender Nagar. BJP has fielded Vijender Gupta from Rohini. Former AAP leader Kapil Mishra is the BJP candidate from Model Town in this election. Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga is a BJP candidate from Hari Nagar.

Congress has fielded Arvinder Singh Lovely from Gandhi Nagar. Former AAP leader Alka Lamba is a Congress candidate from Chandni Chowk. Haroon Yusuf is contesting from Ballimaran. Over 1.4 crore people are eligible to cast their votes in the Delhi Assembly election.

Out of the total number of eligible voters -- 1,47,86,382, there are 81,05,236 male voters and 66,80,277 female voters. Besides this, there are 869 third gender voters. As many as 13,571 polling stations are there at 2,688 locations. Out of these, 3,141 are critical polling stations and 144 are vulnerable polling stations.

This time, 2,04,830 voters are above the age of 80, while 147 voters are above the age of 100. The oldest voter is 110-year-old Kalitara Mandal, resident of Greater Kailash. To ensure peaceful and fair polling in all 70 assemblies, as many as 190 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed. Besides this, 19,000 Home Guards and 42,000 Delhi Police personnel will also be deployed.

AAP is contesting on all 70 seats, while the BJP has fielded its candidates on 67 seats and has left three seats for its allies -- two for JD-U and one for LJP. On the other hand, Congress is contesting on 66 seats and has given four seats to its ally RJD. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)