Voting in Delhi’s 70 Assembly seats started at 7 AM on Wednesday amidst a keenly watched election in which the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party-Congress are embroiled in a triangular fight. This election is very crucial for AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal as there are relentless corruption charges against him and his party.
At 5 pm, the voter turnout was at a provisional 57.7% with an hour of polling left. Turnout has remained above 60% in both the previous two elections and in both times the AAP came back with more than 60 seats. The last time the turnout was less than 60 percent was in 2008, when Congress returned for a third consecutive term.
Results from the exit polls are expected to start trickling in a little after voting closes at 6 PM tonight, with preliminary trends likely by 6:30 PM. In the past, exit polls have correctly called AAP victories twice.
Today, voting was held without major glitches, though complaints of “fake voting” and distribution of money in return for votes were aplenty, as AAP’s former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisoda accused BJP’s state chief Virendra Sachdeva.
Serious corruption charges against Kejriwal and other senior AAP leaders investigating into the so-called liquor policy scandal-in which they were imprisoned for several months before bailing out from the Supreme Court-forms the backdrop to the election.
Besides that, the BJP and Congress have also attacked AAP over Delhi’s annual air quality crisis and crumbling public infrastructure such as traffic congestion and failing healthcare and education systems. Kejriwal’s claim that the BJP government in Haryana contaminated the Yamuna River’s water supply has also become a point of contention, drawing legal notices from the Election Commission.
It also meant a questioning of the impartiality of the Election Commission, as Kejriwal and Chief Minister Atishi claimed that it was biased toward the BJP; the Commission shot back in response.
The BJP is hoping for its first victory in Delhi elections since the late 1990s, while the Congress hopes to regain relevance after minimal successes in recent years. Since bursting onto the scene in 2013 and forming a government through an alliance with Congress, the AAP has held sway with emphatic victories in both the 2015 and 2020 elections.
