 "Delhi polls see unexpectedly high voter turn out")
South Delhi which has in the past seen low voter turn outs ascribed mainly to apathy of citizens in posh colonies, today saw high voter turn out in areas such as Greater Kailash and RK Puram which is being ascribed to first time youth voter enthusiasm (first time voters 4.05 lakh) as well as Election Commission efforts to ensure higher polling through cleaning up of electoral rolls. Polling continued well past 5 pm as long voter queues compelled the EC to keep the voting process on for all those who had queued up by 5pm.
Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev confirmed that this poll recorded the highest voter turn out. Speaking to reporters Dev said, “An estimated 66 % turn out till 5:30 PM in Delhi assembly polls which were incident-free.”
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While Congress leaders were the first to dismiss Arvind Kejriwal and AAP as ‘serious contenders’, price rise, corruption, women’s safety were issues that had the Sheila Dikshit government on the backfoot. The AAP, despite being a newbie, riding on its clean image and pitch for transparency in government had successfully managed to put the Delhi government on the defensive over increasing power tariffs accusing Dikshit of colluding with private discoms as well as the scams that dogged the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Dikshit might have been fighting off a three term anti-incumbency, however Congress leaders admit that the UPA government’s two term anti- incumbency saddled with a litany of scams, could well have rubbed off on the Dikshit government. “After all both the Delhi government and the UPA are Congress governments and public anger against one could rub off on the other,” said a Congress leader. A fact that Diskhit has been publicly disputing, claiming that there was no anti-incumbency.
These polls would also be significant in deciding the political future of Diskhit who has for some time now been speculated to be headed for a role at the Centre. Her proximity to the Gandhi family places her a notch higher than other leaders in the party but the outcome of the polls on December 8, could well determine her future. As it is former Union minister Ajay Maken has long been pitched to full in her shoes, should the Congress make it.
While Congress President Sonia Gandhi exuded “confidence” when asked about Congress’ prospects in the Delhi Assembly, Sheila Dikshit admitted that she has kept her "fingers crossed". Most pollsters have predicted dire prospects for Congress while indicating a shift of the vote bank to AAP.
Ever since the BJP lost to the Congress in 1998 at the height of the onion crisis, the BJP has not managed to make a dent in to the Congress bastion here. However this time around, bolstered by the presence of its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi who campaigned extensively in the capital, the party campaign (with Harsh Vardhan as its Chief Ministerial candidate) has been fancying its chances. For the first time, the SAD has fielded its own candidates in Sikh dominated areas in the capital, after much tussle with coalition partner BJP.
These polls are being as a “semi-final” for the upcoming 2014 general elections and the political repercussions are bound to echo in Parliament as the Winter session gets underway tomorrow.
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. 810 candidates are in the fray.
While Congress and AAP are contesting from all 70 seats, BJP has fielded candidates in 66 constituencies leaving the rest to SAD. BSP which was the third largest party in the 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.