New Delhi, April 10 (IANS) Hundreds of thousands of Delhites thronged polling centres Thursday to elect seven Lok Sabha members in a high-voltage battle involving the BJP, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party.
Officials and residents reported serpentine queues in almost all the 11,763 polling stations as men and women - the elderly included - turned up in large numbers right from the time polling began at 7 a.m.
Within six hours, 40 percent of Delhi's 12 million electorate had voted. An Election Commission official said he expected record voting this time.
Voter enthusiasm was evident in both middle class and working class areas. In some places, the queues snaked out of the school buildings where polling stations were set up.
Even affluent localities, which are usually lethargic vis-a-vis elections, reported heavy polling.
A total of 150 candidates are in the fray in Delhi.
The Delhi battle is critical for the Congress, which won all seven Lok Sabha seats in 2009. It is equally important for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has vowed to snatch all seven in order to ensure a BJP-led coalition government in New Delhi.
Delhi is also crucial for the Aam Aadmi Party, which has to prove that its support base has not eroded since its 49-day minority government went out of office Feb 14.
Among the early voters here were Vice President Hamid Ansari, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and BJP's Harsh Vardhan, who is contesting from Chandni Chowk.
While Sonia and Rahul Gandhi did not talk to the media, Priyanka Gandhi, who came to vote with husband Robert Vadra, said there is "no Modi wave in the country".
On his part, Kejriwal said after casting his vote in Tilak Marg: "We are confident that we will win all the seven seats. We are sure that the youth and others will vote for us."
BJP candidate from New Delhi Meenakshi Lekhi, a lawyer by profession, said people were voting en masse for Narendra Modi, her party's prime ministerial candidate.
"Modi wave is a reality... both the rural and urban voters are with us," Lekhi told IANS.
With the emergence of the AAP, Delhi is witnessing a triangular fight in any Lok Sabha contest for the first time.
There are 7,057,648 male and 5,657,785 female voters besides 839 'others'.
Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev said Delhi will break all records in polling.
"I am sure a lot of people, including youth and women, will come out and vote," he said. In 2009, the voting percentage was 58.19.
Homemaker Paloma Ganguly said she was very excited to cast her vote.
"I was surprised to see so many people from resettlement colonies and shanties lined up. I never thought so many people will turn up so early," Ganguly told IANS.
Delhi's Lt Governor Najeeb Jung said after voting with his family. "We
must strengthen Indian democracy by exercising our right to vote," he said and urged citizens to vote without fear.
The threat of LTTE looms over Sri Lanka again: India warns - there may be a big attack on May 18, Sri Lanka tightens security
Sri Lanka, which is facing an economic crisis, is under threat of attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, ie LTTE. Recently, Indian intelligence agencies have given inputs to the Defense
Mahavatar Narsimha: 'Mahavatar Narsimha' turned out to be the father of the Marvel Universe,
Make a film that leaves a lasting impression on the minds and hearts of the audience. Something similar has been done by South cinema's famous production house, Hombale Films, in its latest offering,
Jaipur Earthquake: With three scary tremors of 4.4 magnitude, people are afraid to go inside their houses, Jaipur is the center
Strong tremors of earthquake were felt in Rajasthan's capital Jaipur from 4:09 am on Friday. After this, there were three earthquake tremors intermittently for some time. People were woken up by the
GST Collection: GST collection in May stood at Rs 1.41 lakh crore, 16% less than April
The figures for GST revenue were presented by the Finance Ministry on Wednesday. According to this, the GST collection of the government during May has been more than Rs 1.41 lakh crore. Which is 44
Curfew in 40 US cities including Washington; Trump had to be taken to the underground bunker during a demonstration at the White House
Washington. Protest is increasing in the US in the death of black George Floyd. Curfew has been imposed in 40 cities, including the capital Washington DC. On Sunday night, protesters staged a
Delhi: Indonesian Minister Mohammad Mahfud meets PM Modi, Indonesian delegation will go to Agra today
Indonesian Minister Mohammad Mahfud met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. The meeting took place at the India Islamic Cultural Center on Tuesday. Mehfud, the Coordinating Minister for
Sri Lanka's crisis: Heavy devastation due to landslides in the country facing economic crisis, more than 600 families in trouble
Sri Lanka, which is facing the biggest economic crisis to date, has also had to face the sky disaster. The Disaster Management Center (DMC) of Sri Lanka said that more than 600 families have been
Yogi said in the assembly: Taliban supporters should be ashamed, there is a massacre of women and children
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has launched a scathing attack on those who support the Taliban. He said that those who are supporting the Taliban should think about the women and
Was R. Madhavan upset that Akshay Khanna stole the limelight in Dhurandhar? He said, "I thought my character..."
Aditya Dhar's spy thriller film 'Dhurandhar' is creating a storm at the box office every day and shows no signs of slowing down. The movie is breaking one box office record after another. While the
Kartik Aaryan: Kartik Aryan narrowly escaped being a victim of an accident, fans who came to meet the actor broke the barricade.
Bollywood actor Kartik Aryan excited his fans by attending the Filmfare Awards held in Gujarat on Sunday night. However, during this time the actor narrowly escaped becoming a victim of a major
