Voting for Delhi Assembly elections begins amid tight security

New Delhi: Voters cast votes for the 8th Assembly under strict security as polling for 70 assembly seats got underway Wednesday morning. According to authorities, voting will start at 7:00 am and go until 6:00 pm.

83,76,173 men, 72,36,560 women, and 1,267 third-gender voters make up Delhi’s 1,56,14,000 registered voters. Additionally, 239,905 first-time voters between the ages of 18 and 19, 109,368 senior citizens 85 and older, and 79,885 people with impairments make up the electorate.

For the elections, some 8,715 volunteers and 97,955 staff have been sent out. To ensure a smooth election, security measures include 19,000 Home Guards, 220 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) companies, and 35,626 Delhi Police officers.

In an effort to foster diversity, 70 polling places will be administered solely by female employees, while another 70 will be operated entirely by people with disabilities. Seventy polling places have also been established to promote young involvement.

An AI-based Queue Management System app called “Delhi Election – 2025 QMS” is accessible on the Google Play Store and allows voters to track the number of people at voting places in real time. Parents with little children will have access to a crèche, and emergency medical personnel will be on hand.

A hotline number (1950) and color-coded polling places will also help voters find their assigned booth and answer election-related questions.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party is doing all in its ability to regain control, the governing Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is aiming for a third term.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP campaign attacked Kejriwal for alleged corruption and Yamuna water problems. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, two prominent Congressmen, staged rallies in the meanwhile and said that the AAP was “damaging” Delhi’s infrastructure.

Chief Electoral Officer R. Alice Vaz encouraged all eligible voters to cast ballots on election eve, stressing that doing so is both a basic civic obligation and a right.

“I want every Delhi voter to turn out in force and cast their ballot on February 5th, the day of voting. Participating in this democratic process is our primary duty as citizens,” she said.

But there was also considerable debate over the 48-hour silence period. A delegation from the BJP filed a protest at the CEO’s office earlier on Tuesday, claiming that some AAP employees were generating “nuisance across all constituencies in Delhi during nighttime, and there is an apprehension that they can influence the election.”

“A social media video of a person who is a worker of the Aam Aadmi Party holding a weapon (”  gun “) belonging to Mehrauli Constituency is being spread across the social media to create panic and threat in the minds of the voters,” according to the letter provided by the BJP.

In Haryana, remarks about the Yamuna water and accusations against the Haryana government led to the filing of a formal complaint (FIR) against Arvind Kejriwal and other unnamed individuals under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

AICC MP and Treasurer Ajay Maken will cast his vote at Sheela Kids School in Rajouri Garden at 9:00 am, Delhi Congress President Devender Yadav at Govt. Girl Senior Secondary school in Samaipur at 10:00 am, Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi at Nirwan Bhawan at 8:15 am, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at Atal School at 11:00 am, and Pawan Khera, Chairman of the AICC Media & Publicity Department, at Satyawati Sood Arya Sr. Sec. school Nizamuddin East at 10:00 am.

Alka Lamba, the president of the All India Mahila Congress and a candidate for the Kalkaji assembly, will cast her ballot at Tagore Garden MCD School at 9:00 am, while former MP Sandeep Dikshit will do so at Kaviraj Khajan Chand Quetta, DAV School, Nizamuddin East, at 7:00 am.

Hardeep Puri, a BJP politician and union minister, and his spouse, Lakshmi Puri, will cast their ballots at Mount Carmel School in Anand Niketan, Moti Bagh.

AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi also met with the Election Commissioner earlier on Tuesday to talk about concerns related to hooliganism and violence. Additionally, Kejriwal expressed gratitude to the Election Commission for meeting with him despite the fact that parties were not allowed to participate in the quiet period.

The seats of Kalkaji, Jangpura, and New Delhi are all fiercely fought. The AAP, which now controls almost 60 of the assembly’s 70 members, is running for reelection on the strength of its past performance.

Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (AAP), Parvesh Verma of the BJP, and Sandeep Dikshit of the Congress (son of former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit) are in a high-profile three-way race for the New Delhi seat.

In the Kalkaji seat, incumbent Delhi Chief Minister Atishi is running against Ramesh Bidhuri of the BJP and Alka Lamba of the Congress.

Manish Sisodia of the AAP, Farhad Suri of the Congress, and Tarvinder Singh Marwah of the BJP will compete in Jangpura.