The national capital witnessed a voter turnout of 33.31% till 1 PM in the ongoing single-phase Delhi Assembly elections, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Among all districts, the North-East district recorded the highest turnout at 39.51%, while the Central district registered the lowest at 29.74%.
Other districts reported varying turnout figures, with South West recording 35.44%, New Delhi 29.89%, East 33.66%, North 32.44%, North West 33.17%, Shahdara 35.81%, South 32.67%, South East 32.27%, and West 30.87% by 1 PM. Meanwhile, in the bye-elections, the Milkipur Assembly constituency registered a turnout of 44.59%, and the Erode (East) constituency in Tamil Nadu saw 42.41% voting as of 11 AM.
Polling for all 70 Assembly seats in Delhi, along with by-elections for one seat each in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, commenced at 7 AM. Voting is being conducted under tight security across all constituencies. Amidst polling, AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj alleged that the Delhi Police were preventing people from casting their votes at a polling station in Chirag Delhi. He claimed that barricades were being put up and voters were being influenced across multiple polling booths in the area. In response, South Delhi DCP Ankit Chauhan assured that the matter would be investigated.
In a separate incident, AAP MP Sanjay Singh alleged that party worker Uday Gill was detained without cause. He took to social media platform X, stating that Gill had been held at Mandir Marg police station. However, the official handle of DCP New Delhi countered the claim, stating that Gill was detained for allegedly coercing voters to visit a particular political party’s booth.
Amidst the elections, BJP National President JP Nadda, Delhi BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva, and Union Minister Harsh Malhotra visited the Delhi BJP office. Several BJP leaders, including MP Manoj Tiwari, cast their votes, expressing confidence in the party’s victory. Tiwari criticized the AAP government, accusing it of corruption and misgovernance.
These elections hold immense significance for the three major political parties—AAP, BJP, and Congress. While AAP aims to retain power for another term, the BJP is determined to reclaim Delhi after 27 years. Congress, which governed the capital for 15 years before suffering major defeats in 2015 and 2020, is looking to make a comeback. AAP currently holds more than 60 of the 70 Assembly seats and is banking on its governance record to secure re-election.
In Uttar Pradesh’s Milkipur, Samajwadi Party candidate Ajit Prasad raised concerns about voter intimidation, claiming that certain elements were influencing voters against his party. He alleged that the police were pressuring people not to vote for the Samajwadi Party and that his party’s election agents were being denied entry into polling booths. The constituency, reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC), has 3,70,829 registered voters, with the main contest expected between Samajwadi Party’s Ajit Prasad and BJP’s Chandrabhanu Paswan.
The results of the elections will be declared on February 8, when votes will be counted.
-ANI
