Delhi votes in municipal polls, Kejriwal cast franchise

New Delhi, April 23 (IANS) Delhi went to polls on Sunday for municipal elections across 272 wards with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other public figures casting their ballots soon after voting began at 8.00 a.m.Over 2,500 candidates are in the fray for elections to North Delhi Municipal Corporation and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (104 seats each) and East Delhi Municipal Congress (64 seats).Over 56,000 Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel are on guard at the polling booths, while an additional 20,000 home guards have been deployed to ensure law and order in the city.

Kejriwal cast his vote along with his parents and daughter at Underhill Road Transport Office polling station in Civil Lines.Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and his wife voted at a polling station in Greater Kailash 2.Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra cast his franchise at M.C. Primary School in Yamuna Vihar and Rural Development Minister Gopal Rai voted at M.C. Primary School in Baburpur.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia stood in the queue and waited for his turn to vote at a polling station in Pandav Nagar.He appealed to the people to come and vote for his party and "help the national capital fight corruption".There were a good number of people outside polling stations in most of the areas including Pandav Nagar, Kondli, Patparganj, Sant Nagar and Burari.

In many areas, people had gathered outside the stations before the polling even began.They chose to come early to beat the heat but many had a bad experience as the booths had been moved about 100 to 200 metres away which led to a lot of confusion.Elaborate security arrangements were made across the national capital but the security personnel did not come forward to help the confused people.

"Voter slips have not been given to many people here and it has created a lot of confusion. I and my wife didn't get any voter slips. Also, the party stalls have been shifted 200 metres away," Amit Basu from Chittaranjan Park in South Delhi told IANS.

He said the police were misleading people."We couldn't find a way till the time some Aam Aadmi Party worker came and informed that it has been pushed 200 metres. Police in our area were unhelpful," Basu said."A woman on a wheeled chair was constantly asking about the slips and party stalls but the policemen in our area were not helping," he added. Over 1.32 crore eligible voters are likely to exercise their franchise at 13,022 polling booths across Delhi.