New Delhi : Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Saturday said the ongoing assembly elections in the national capital were a three-cornered contest, adding that the results were difficult to predict. “We [the Congress] are facing a three-cornered contest and in a three-corner contest it is very difficult to predict,” Dikshit told mediapersons. “This election has become dominated by personality clashes… people are talking less of the programmes and the manifestos and more of anything else,” she added.
Earlier in the day, Vice President Hamid Ansari cast his vote in the assembly elections in the national capital. Other leaders, including the chief ministerial candidates for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress Kiran Bedi and Ajay Maken also cast their vote, as well as Aam Aadmi Party candidates Manish Sisodia and Alka Lamba. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also called upon the residents of the national capital to vote in large numbers in the ongoing assembly polls. Polling for the 70-member Delhi assembly began at 8 a.m. amid tight security.
According to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi, all arrangements are in place to ensure free and fair polling. About 55,000 police personnel have been deployed to ensure hassle free voting. The police will also undertake patrolling in different parts of the capital to prevent the distribution of liquor, money or any other allurements. The over 1.33 crore electorate will decide the fate of 673 candidates. The Burari Assembly constituency has the maximum number of candidates (18) who will be contesting in Saturday’s elections. The Ambedkar Nagar Assembly constituency has the lowest number of candidates (4).
Chief Election Commissioner Hari Shankar Brahma has expressed confidence that voters would be allowed to exercise their franchise safely and in well secured electronic voting booths. Voting will continue till 6 p.m. in the evening. Polling will take place at 12,177 polling stations. Of these, 714 have been declared as critical and 191 as highly critical. Each assembly constituency has a model polling booth where facilities like drinking water and chairs will be provided to voters. Voters have been granted a paid holiday today to cast their votes.
