NEW DELHI: Delhi on Wednesday votes for the assembly elections, with more than 1.5 crore eligible voters hitting the poll button to decide the national capital’s politcal fate.
A total of 699 candidates: 603 men, 95 women, and one third-gender candidate, are contesting for 70 assembly seats, after 2 weeks of intense campaigning.
The polling booths opened at 7 am and voting will continue till 6 pm across 13,766 polling stations spread over 2,696 locations.
Tough competition
This high stake contest will witness the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) striving to retain its power in the region that it has dominated for the last two terms, against its rivals, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress.
Congress is also looking to achieve a strong comeback after a decade long exile from the capital.
Many constituencies are set for fierce battles this time. AAP chief and former CM Arvind Kejriwal faces a tough challenge from BJP’s Parvesh Verma and Congress’s Sandeep Dikshit, both of whom are former MPs from different constituencies.
Meanwhile, CM Atishi is up against BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri, also a former MP, alongside Congress’s Alka Lamba.
Party promises
Aam Aadmi Party has pledged to expand its welfare schemes, offering free electricity and water, free bus travel for women, and improved education and healthcare, which it claims would save families around Rs 25,000 a month. It has also promised a monthly honorarium of Rs 2,100 for eligible women, free medical treatment for senior citizens, and free bus travel for students.
BJP, hoping to break its 30-year drought in Delhi assembly elections, has vowed to continue existing welfare schemes while introducing new ones, including a Rs 2,500 monthly stipend for women, increased pensions for senior citizens, Ayushman Bharat benefits, a monthly pension for small traders, paid internships for youth, and gas cylinders at Rs 500 for low-income households.
Congress is attempting to reclaim a share of its traditional voter base from AAP and has promised Rs 8,500 per month for unemployed youth for a year, Rs 2,500 per month for women under the ‘Pyari Didi Yojana,’ an annual insurance cover of Rs 25 lakh, and zero electricity bills for consumers using up to 300 units.
Polling facilities
The Delhi election office has pledged to ensure a “free and fair” poll in the city. Delhi’s chief electoral officer R Alice Vaz informed that 1.1 civil officials- polling teams, counting staff, flying squad, sector magistrates, expenditure monitors, control room officials, micro observers and volunteers, along with a pool of 60,000 security personnel have been deployed to achieve the purpose.
Approximately 82.7 lakh men and 72.4 women will be casting their vote on Wednesday for whom 21,584 ballot units, more than 20,000 control units and 18,943 VVPAT machines have been set up.
Vas further added that all the voters standing in the queue at 6 pm would be allowed to cast their vote.
Exit Polls
Exit polls are surveys conducted immediately after voters leave polling stations. They aim to predict the outcome of the elections before the official results are declared.
However, the election commission has banned releasing exit polls till 6:30 pm on Wednesday, the day of voting.
The ban applies to the Delhi elections and bypolls in Uttar Pradesh’s Milkipur constituency and Tamil Nadu’s Erode (East) seat. Citing Section 126A(1) of the R P Act, 1951, the notification stated, “The period between 7am and 6:30pm on 05.02.2025 (Wednesday) is hereby notified as the duration during which conducting, publishing, or publicising exit polls by any means, including print or electronic media, shall be prohibited.”
When to watch exit polls?
As per the election commission, the exit poll results would be released after 6.30 pm on February 5.
Where to watch exit polls?
The exit poll predictions of 2025 Delhi assembly elections will be live streamed on different news channels, social media platforms, and YouTube channels.
Result
The result of the Delhi assembly elections would be announced on Satuday, 8th February.