Delhi to vote today

Delhi votes on Wednesday to pick a new 70-member Assembly in a triangular fight between the ruling Congress, the BJP and the debutant Aam Aadmi Party amid speculation that the outcome could throw up a hung House. All the three parties have expressed confidence of getting a clear majority. There are 1.19 crore voters. This Assembly election, whose result will be known on December 8, appears to be the toughest challenge yet that three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has faced due to recent spike in prices of onions and concerns over women security. The BJP’s hunger to wrest power after 15 years was visible all through the campaign and the AAP’s potential to woo voters has been acknowledged by political pundits and rivals who described the outfit as being like a "much more organised independent” in the fray. Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev said: "A large voter turnout is expected and we will ensure Wednesday’s election is free and fair.” "I am confident Delhi will lead by example in terms of polling percentage. We want to tell the world that Delhi is number one,” he said, urging all voters, especially the over four lakh first-time voters, to exercise their franchise. Sources in the election office said they were expecting a polling percentage of over 70 per cent. In the 2008, urban apathy marred the voting and the city recorded only 58 per cent balloting. There are a total of 11,763 polling stations out of which 630 are critical and hyper critical. Dev said 741 micro-observers, 513 video cameramen, 32,801 Delhi Policemen, 47,972 civilian staff and 107 companies of central paramilitary forces would be at work to ensure safe, fair and free elections. Sharing details of an attempt by a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate to distribute liquor for votes in north Delhi, Dev said: "We are going for a night-long vigil to check all malpractices.” He said 210 surveillance teams, 45 excise raiding teams and police teams will be on an alert to prevent any distribution of liquor or money by candidates to buy votes. On Wednesday, the electorate will vote between 8 am and 5 pm. "Those who enter polling stations before 5 pm will be allowed to cast their ballot,” he said, adding that efforts have been made to nullifying any form of urban apathy. Of the 810 candidates in the fray, Burari has the largest number of 23 contestants. Patel Nagar has the least number of four candidates. In the current Assembly, the Congress has 43 legislators and the BJP has 23. The BSP has two seats, apart from independents.   Deccan Herald