Polling underway for Delhi LS polls, voters make beeline to exercise their right

New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) Braving scorching heat, voters turned out in large numbers to exercise their right to franchise at polling booths in seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi for the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.

The national capital witnessed an early voter turnout of 8.94 per cent by 9 a.m.

Among the constituencies, West Delhi recorded the highest voter turnout at 9.72 per cent till 9 a.m, followed by Northeast Delhi at 10.15 per cent, marking it as the constituency with the highest early participation.

East Delhi also saw a significant voter turnout at 8.82 per cent. Chandani Chowk, one of the prominent constituencies, registered a turnout of 7.83 per cent, reflecting steady voter engagement. South Delhi, another crucial constituency, reported 8.88 per cent.

A total of 1.52 crore voters, including 82 lakh males, 69 lakh females, and 1,228 third-gender voters, are expected to exercise their franchise at 13,000 polling stations spread across 2,627 locations in Delhi.

The voting process began at 7 a.m. with more than 2.52 lakh first-time voters participating in this crucial phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which achieved a clean sweep in Delhi during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, has made significant changes to its lineup this year, retaining only one of its sitting MPs, actor-turned-politician Manoj Tiwari from Northeast Delhi.

The six new candidates are Praveen Khandelwal (Chandni Chowk), Harsh Deep Malhotra (East Delhi), Yogender Chandolia (Northwest Delhi), Ramvir Singh Bhiduri (South Delhi), Kamaljeet Singh Sehrawat (West Delhi), and Bansuri Swaraj, the daughter of late BJP veteran Sushma Swaraj, from New Delhi.

For this election, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress are contesting together as part of the INDIA bloc. AAP is fielding candidates in four constituencies - East Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi, and New Delhi - while Congress is contesting the remaining three seats - Northeast Delhi, Northwest Delhi, and Chandni Chowk.

The AAP candidates include Kuldeep Kumar (East Delhi), Sahiram Pehalwan (South Delhi), Mahabal Mishra (West Delhi), and Somnath Bharti (New Delhi).

Congress has nominated Udit Raj (Northwest Delhi), Jai Prakash Agarwal (Chandni Chowk), and former JNU Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar (Northeast Delhi).