Voting in Delhi underway; Prez, CM exercise franchise
With voting on for the high-stakes Delhi Assembly election underway, poll officials said that 3.66 per cent votes were cast in the first hour of voting. President Ram Nath Kovind, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, West Delhi MP Parvesh Verma and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari were among the first to exercise their franchise.
With voting on for the high-stakes Delhi Assembly election underway, poll officials said that 14.75 per cent votes were cast in the first three hours of voting. President Ram Nath Kovind, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, West Delhi MP Parvesh Verma and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari were among the first to exercise their franchise.
Former vice president Hamid Ansari and BJP national secretary Ram Lal were among those who queued up outside the Nirman Bhavan polling station during the first hour of voting.
Calling upon the residents of Delhi to come out and cast their votes in huge numbers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi encouraged people to go out and vote in record-breaking numbers via Twitter and said: “Today is the voting day for the Delhi Assembly elections. My appeal to all voters is that they participate in this festival of democracy in maximum number and create a new voting record.”
दिल्ली विधानसभा चुनाव के लिए आज मतदान का दिन है। सभी मतदाताओं से मेरी अपील है कि वे अधिक से अधिक संख्या में लोकतंत्र के इस महोत्सव में भाग लें और वोटिंग का नया रिकॉर्ड बनाएं।
Urging the people of Delhi, especially my young friends, to vote in record numbers.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 8, 2020
Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, who is eyeing to repeat his party’s 2015 assembly performance, voted at the Rajpura Transport Authority polling station in the Civil Lines area.
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After voting, Kejriwal said he is hopeful that AAP would form the government for the third time in Delhi. The people of Delhi will vote based on the works done by the AAP government.
Kejriwal, who is contesting the polls from the New Delhi seat, was accompanied by his wife Sunita and son Pulkit. Before leaving for voting, he sought his parent’s blessings.
Minutes before polling began, Kejriwal tweeted, “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.”
वोट डालने ज़रूर जाइये
सभी महिलाओं से ख़ास अपील – जैसे आप घर की ज़िम्मेदारी उठाती हैं, वैसे ही मुल्क और दिल्ली की ज़िम्मेदारी भी आपके कंधों पर है। आप सभी महिलायें वोट डालने ज़रूर जायें और अपने घर के पुरुषों को भी ले जायें। पुरुषों से चर्चा ज़रूर करें कि किसे वोट देना सही रहेगा
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 8, 2020
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who led a very aggressive campaign and covered 60 assembly seats, appealed to voters to “free” the national capital from lies and vote-bank politics.
“By giving Delhi clean air, clean drinking water and every poor house, only the best capital of the world can make it a government with far-sighted thinking and strong intentions.
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“I appeal to the people of Delhi to vote to free Delhi from lies and vote bank politics,” Shah tweeted.
दिल्ली को स्वच्छ हवा, स्वच्छ पीने का पानी और हर गरीब को अपना घर देकर इसे विश्व की सबसे अच्छी राजधानी सिर्फ एक दूरदर्शी सोच व मजबूत इरादों वाली सरकार ही बना सकती है।
मैं दिल्ली की जनता से अपील करता हूँ कि झूठ और वोटबैंक की राजनीति से दिल्ली को मुक्त करने के लिए मतदान अवश्य करें।
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) February 8, 2020
BJP president JP 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 be script the golden future of Delhi. Pehle Matdan, Phir Jalpan. Jai Hind,” Nadda tweeted.
Over 1.47 crore people are eligible to exercise their franchise in the polls that will decide the fate of 672 candidates in 70 assembly constituencies which are seeing a triangular contest among the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), opposition BJP and the Congress.
People have been braving the chilly 7 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season’s normal since morning to cast their votes.
Polling that began at 8 am is scheduled to end at 6 pm, an official said.
(With inputs from agencies.)
