According to the Chief Electoral Office, Delhi, an approximate voter turnout trend of 58.70%(tentative) was recorded in the capital, they added that this is not the final voting percentage as it does not include postal ballot data. Voting took place at several parts of the city which were under a severe heatwave making it difficult for voters to come out during the midday.
Voting started at 7 in the morning and continued until 6 in the evening. To ensure the security and integrity of the electoral process, the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi, P. Krishnamurthy, supervised the operations with live monitoring of 2891 sensitive polling stations through webcasting. The Delhi CEO Headquarters has setup a control room to continuously monitor webcasts from sensitive stations, ensuring real-time monitoring and immediate response to any issues.
Also read:Delhi Lok Sabha Election 2024 live updates on May 25
Steady decline
While the CEO, Delhi made all efforts to spread voter awareness amongst the 1.52 crore voters in the seven constituencies. As of 8 p.m. on Saturday, data by the CEO, Delhi suggested that approximate voter turnout trend was at its lowest in the New Delhi parliamentary constituency at 51.54% while it was the highest in Northeast Delhi at 58.30%. In South Delhi, the voter turnout was 52.83%, in Chandni Chowk it was 53.27%, in East Delhi it was 54.37%, in Northwest Delhi it was 53.81%, in West Delhi in 54.90%.
In the previous Lok Sabha polls, Delhi had recorded a 60.6% against the national voter turnout of 67.4% in 2019. In 2014, the capital had recorded 65.10% voter turnout against the national voter turnout of 66.44%.
Owing to the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress’s four to three seat sharing alliance in the capital Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal who votes from the Chandni Chowk constituency and Congress’s Gandhi family including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi who vote from the New Delhi constituency found themselves in constituencies where they had no candidates on the ballot belonging to their respective parties. Mr. Kejriwal is currently out on interim bail after being arrested by the Enforcement directorate voted with his family.
162 candidates
There are 162 candidates in the fray for the Delhi Lok Sabha polls, most candidates started the day early by going to pray before voting with their families and supporters.
Politicians including President of India Draupadi Murmu, Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and S. Jaishankar. Additionally, the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud also voted from the New Delhi constituency.
Speaking after voting, several leaders from AAP, BJP and Congress expressed confidence that the campaign they had translated into votes assuring their victories. While AAP and Congress appealed to the voters to vote in numbers against the BJP as it would be their last attempt to ‘save democracy’. The BJP said the people of Delhi have seen through the hypocrisy of the AAP and Congress alliance.
Delhi’s voters that voted AAP to power in at state assembly elections in a huge majority, and the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections in a huge majority for two previous polls of each, said they had voted keeping national as well as local issues in mind. BJP has ruled all seven states of the capital for two terms now.
The CEO, Delhi had made extensive arrangements to provide comfort to voters who stepped out of their house to vote in the extreme heat, by providing refreshments and air coolers within polling stations.
As voters trickled into polling booths, party workers and resident welfare associations encouraged people to participate by going door to door and messaging on WhatsApp groups. Many even showed up with water, soft drinks and other refreshments for polling staffers to keep their spirits high.
