Delhi Assembly Elections 2020: Over 1.4 crore Delhiites voters to choose 70 MLAs today; voting to begin at 8 am
After a high-octane and a frenetic campaign, Delhiites voters will vote at 8 am today. Over 1.4 crore people, who are eligible to vote in the Delhi Assembly election, will choose 70 MLAs today. 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 have been created at 2,688 locations across the city. 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, a resident of Greater Kailash.
As many as 190 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed for the smooth conduct of the Delhi Assembly election today. Besides this, 19,000 Home Guards and 42,000 Delhi Police personnel are deployed at polling booths across the national capital. "We have 190 companies of CAPF, who are regularly patrolling to ensure peace and tranquillity in the city," Praveer Ranjan, Special Commissioner, Intelligence, Delhi Police, told ANI earlier.
The seven main divisions of CAPF are Assam Rifles, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Security Guards (NSG) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). Also, there would be additional staff from the PCR, Traffic, and Communication in addition to the staff deployed to man the polling booths.
Delhi: Visuals from Polling Station 80 at Nirman Bhawan in New Delhi assembly constituency. CM & sitting MLA from the constituency, Arvind Kejriwal is contesting from here. BJP has fielded Sunil Yadav & Congress has fielded Romesh Sabharwal from here. #DelhiElections2020 pic.twitter.com/B16o9tnFsp
— ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2020
All five polling stations in Shaheen Bagh have been declared 'critical' by Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). It is to be noted that during the 2019 General Elections, 47 companies of CAPF were deployed. The Delhi Assembly election has seen an escalation in CAPF deployment almost four times making it 190 companies.
A total number of 3,141 critical polling stations have been identified along with 144 vulnerable polling stations and 102 expenditure sensitive pockets. Campaigning for Delhi Assembly polls came to a close on Thursday putting an end to rallies and road-shows by leaders of different parties.
Polling for the 70 seats of Delhi Assembly will begin at 8 am. The voting will continue till 6 pm in the evening.In the last elections, the AAP had registered a landslide victory by winning 67 seats. The BJP had won 3. The Congress didn't open its account. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is hoping to retain power for the second consecutive term.
Similarly, the BJP is hopeful to return to power by cashing in on the aura of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hard work done by Home Minister Amit Shah along with party chief JP Nadda. 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, is hoping for a revival.
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
First published: 8 February 2020, 7:30 IST