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Delhi Lok Sabha polls 2024: The national capital recorded a voter turnout of approximately 54.48% until 7.45 pm across its seven Lok Sabha constituencies in the sixth phase of voting on Saturday. While the North East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency recorded the highest turnout, with 58.30% voting, the New Delhi seat recorded the lowest, with 51.54% voting.
It is important to note that Delhi witnessed 60.52% voting in the 2019 general election when the BJP swept all seven Lok Sabha constituencies in the national capital.
According to data from the poll body the North East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency recorded the highest turnout with 58.30% till 7. 45 pm, where sitting BJP MP Manoj Tiwari is pitted against Kanhaiya Kumar of Congress.
The New Delhi seat recorded the lowest voting percentage at 51.54% where Bansuri Swaraj of BJP is contesting against INDIA bloc constituent AAP’s Somnath Bharti followed by West Delhi 54.90%, East Delhi 54.37%, North West Delhi 53.81%, Chandni Chowk 53.27% and South Delhi 52.83% voting in the 6th phase of polling in the national capital.
President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar were among those who exercised their voting rights in the national capital.
Union ministers S Jaishankar and Hardeep Singh Puri, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were among others who cast their votes in the national capital.
The poll panel officials in Delhi claimed that there were no reports of technical snags or delays in the commencement of voting at any polling station in the national capital. However, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat said she had to wait for around 50 minutes to cast her vote at St Columba’s School in the New Delhi constituency. The CPI(M) leader alleged that the battery of the EVM control unit at her polling booth “drained out.”
“We came to vote, they are saying that the machine’s battery is down. If the machine’s battery is down early in the morning, imagine what is the condition of the Election Commission,” news agency PTI quoted Karat as saying.
Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), the District Election Officer, New Delhi, rejected her claims and said the battery of the control unit had drained out around 10 am and it was replaced within 15 minutes.
Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj also complained about irregularities.
“Worrying news coming from different parts of Delhi … In Captain Anuj Nayyar School in Janakpuri, the presiding officer tried to get the polling agents to sign the Form 17(C) in the morning itself,” Atishi claimed in a post on X.
“In Govt School No.3 Kalkaji, an Election Officer has just come and given directions that Polling Agents cannot note down any data.Is the plan to manipulate voting numbers by the @ECISVEEP?”, she added.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a post in Hindi on X, appealed to the people to vote and urge their family members, relatives and friends to also exercise their franchise.
“…Each vote cast by you in this great festival of democracy will be against the authoritarian mindset and strengthen democracy and the Constitution of India. Go to the polling stations and assert that there is democracy in India and democracy will remain in India through your votes,” Kejriwal said.
According to EC data, a total of 1.52 crore voters —82 lakh men, 69 lakh women and 1,228 from the third gender category — are eligible to cast their votes at more than 13,000 polling booths across the seven Lok Sabha constituencies of the national capital in the 6th phase of polling today.
With the conclusion of phase 6, polling for General Elections 2024 is now completed in 28 States/UTs and 486 PCs. Polling is also completed in the General Elections for the State Legislative Assemblies of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Andhra Pradesh, as well as the 105 Assembly seats of the Odisha State Assembly.
The next and last phase (phase 7) polling is scheduled on June 1, 2024 in 57 PCs in 8 States/UTs.
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Published: 25 May 2024, 07:10 PM IST
