New Delhi: Saturday’s polling saw only 14.75 per cent of the 1.47 crore voters turning up in the first three hours to exercise their francise for the 70-member Assembly in Delhi. The voter turnout finally improved after 2 pm when people queued up in large numbers to exercise their franchise.
In all, about 61.46 per cent voters made up to the 13,751 polling stations before the 10-hour voting came to an end at 6 pm.
The voting percentage was 57.04 till 6 pm deadline, and rose to 61.46 per cent as those in queues at polling stations were allowed to vote. Long queues were seen outside polling stations in areas like Jafrabad, Jamia Nagar, Turkman Gate and Shaheen Bagh which have been witnessing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). A majority of the Muslim dominated constituencies recorded the highest voter turnout.
North-east Delhi’s Mustafabad recorded about 67 per cent voter turnout and Matia Mahal in the Walled City that saw anti-CAA protests had a voter turnout of about 66 per cent.
In the 11 districts in the national capital, northeast recorded 65.24 per cent turn out, northwest (62.23 per cent), south (59.65 per cent), central (58.57 per cent), southwest 61.57 (per cent), east (61.29 per cent), west (61.79 per cent), north (57.19 per cent), New Delhi (56.10 per cent), Shahadra (62.96 per cent) and southeast (54.89 per cent).
As the voting was in progress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to turn out in large numbers to exercise their franchise and create a “new voting record”.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who provided free rides to women in DTC buses, made a special appeal to women to come out in large numbers and vote in the Assembly poll. He tweeted: “Definitely go and vote. A special appeal to all women, just as you take up the responsibility of the home, the responsibility of the nation and Delhi is with you. All of you women must go to vote and take the men in your families along with you. Discuss with men who is right to vote for.”
Women’s turnout could be the make-or-break factor in deciding which party wins these elections. In the 2015 polls, in the top 20 constituencies with the highest turnout of women, the AAP won much more decisively than in the constituencies which had the lowest turnout of women.
