If the campaign for the Delhi Assembly elections was a high decibel one and at times unsavoury, polling day was no different with the main contenders, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, trading charges against each other.
The charges ranged from bribery and intimidation of voters to even assault on volunteers of the two parties.
The AAP even approached the Election Commission and complained against the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, Kiran Bedi, for allegedly violating the poll code.
The AAP alleged that Ms Bedi walked around with her supporters in Krishna Nagar, her constituency, which amounted to campaigning. In the complaint, the AAP also charged her supporters with carrying publicity material and said she had got disproportionate coverage on television.
The first salvo was fired by Ms. Bedi, who charged that AAP volunteers were trying to influence voters by threatening women and offering bribes of Rs. 300 to voters. She even charged the media for what she described as “selective reporting of such instances.”
AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, without naming the BJP, urged voters to remain wary of those distributing money and liquor to influence voters.
The former Delhi Chief Minister was more specific when he accused the BJP candidate from Mangolpuri of carrying liquor bottles in his car and demanded that his candidature be cancelled.
He was also unimpressed with the “slow speed” of polling. Through a series of tweets, he claimed people were leaving polling stations without casting their votes as result of the “slow” voting and lunch breaks being taken by polling officials, which was against the rules.
Chief Election Commissioner H.S. Brahma, however, refuted the charges saying the allegations were incorrect.