 "Delhi records 48% voting till 3 pm")
Voting picked up in the national capital towards the afternoon with 48% of electors exercising their franchise till 3 p.m., a statement by the Delhi Election Commission said on Wednesday.
"In the Delhi assembly election 2013, the turnout till 3 p.m. is around 48%," the statement said.
Voting began at 8 a.m. to decide the fate of 810 candidates contesting for the 70-member Delhi assembly. It will close at 5 p.m.
Vice President Hamid Ansari, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit were among the early voters in the Delhi Assembly polls.
With many first time voters coming out to cast their vote, it is expected that the overall turnout will cross 60-65% by the end of the day.
Aam Admi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, BJP's chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan, Priyanka Gandhi accompanied by her husband Robert Vadra and Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev were also among the early voters.
When asked about the prospects of Congress, Sonia said with a smile, "We will win".
Sonia came with Dikshit and stood in the queue for a little while before being escorted inside the poll booth at the Nirman Bhavan.
Clad in a while kurta-pyjama and a half-jacket, Rahul queued up for around 32 minutes before his turn came at booth number 88 at Aurangazeb Lane in New Delhi constituency from where the Chief Minister is contesting.
Exuding confidence over Congress' victory, Rahul said that Dikshit has "done a lot of good work in Delhi. I think she will do well."
Dikshit struck a cautious note when asked about the possible poll outcome, saying she has kept her "fingers crossed".
"I will keep my fingers crossed," she said.
There were some reports of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVM) in some parts of the city but they were rectified, election officials said. The EVM at polling booth in Aurangazeb Lane, where Rahul cast his vote, malfunctioned when polling began.
In Jungpura, Badli and Krishna Nagar constituencies, some voters complained that their names have been struck from the electoral rolls and they could not vote.
Elaborate security arrangements were made in the capital with deployment of 32,801 personnel of Delhi Police and 10,700 central paramilitary force personnel to ensure peaceful elections.
The voting began at 8 AM at 11,753 polling booths out of which 630 have been identified as critical and hyper critical.
The Election Commission has appealed to people not to carry mobile phones while going to cast their votes.
A total of 1.19 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise, out of which 66.11 lakh are men and 53.20 lakh are women. The number of first time voters is 4.05 lakh.
810 candidates are in the fray in the three-cornered contest between Congress, BJP and AAP.
While BJP has fielded candidates in 66 constituencies Congress and AAP are contesting from all 70 seats.
BSP, which was the third largest party in last Assembly election, has fielded candidates in 69 seats, NCP in nine and Samajwadi Party in 27 seats. A total of 224 independents are also in the fray.