Election 2019: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress leader Shiela Dixit voted in Delhi today.
As Delhi and neighbouring Gurgaon were polling yesterday, several top politicians as well as celebrities went to vote in the sixth phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Among the star voters were President Ram Nath Kovind, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose party has fielded candidates in all seven seats in Delhi, also voted at a polling booth in Civil Lines. Prominent candidates in Delhi are Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwari of the BJP, Atishi and Raghav Chadha of the AAP, and Sheila Dixit and Ajay Maken of the Congress. Union Minister Harsh Vardhan is also seeking reelection Delhi's Chandni Chowk.
The contest in Gurgaon is mainly between sitting BJP MP Rao Inderjit Singh and Captain Ajay Singh Yadav of the Congress. Mehmood Khan of the Jannayak Janata Party-Aam Aadmi Party alliance and Virender Rana of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) are also in the fray.
Cricketer Virat Kohli was among the early voters who turned up at a polling booth in Gurgaon.
Even though Delhi only sends seven MPs to the 545-seat Lok Sabha, it is considered a crucial indicator to who will form the government in the Centre. It has been observed that since 1998, whichever party has got the higher number of seats in Delhi has also gone ahead to win the overall general election. In 2014, all 7 seats were won by the BJP.
Voting began at 7 am today for the 59 parliamentary constituencies going to polls across six states and one union territory. After today's voting, polling for the 2019 general elections will be complete in 483 of the total 543 Lok Sabha constituencies. The result for all 543 seats will be declared together on May 23.
Here are the highlights of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Delhi, and neighbouring Gurgaon:
The maximum number of VVPAT machines which faced glitches were changed in the South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency while the minimum were replaced in the Northeast segment which delayed the poll process Sunday, the Election Commission officials told news agency PTI.
Delhi recorded a voter turnout of around 60 per cent for the seven Lok Sabha seats, five percentage points down from the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the Delhi chief electoral officer said on Sunday. In 2014, it was around 65 per cent.
Delhi's provisional voters' turnout is 56.77 per cent till 7 pm
AAP Alleges "Bogus Voting" In Delhi
"There is one person who was caught by us voting continuously in the booth. People want to get rid of Ramesh Bidhuri as they are fed up of his abusive behaviour. Due to this factor, BJP is employing unfair means but we would not allow this to continue. The person who was engaged in bogus voting has been caught and the police inspector employed at the booth who was lax in carrying out his duty has been removed from here," AAP Candidate Raghav Chadha said
AAP Alleges "Bogus Voting" In Delhi
"There is one person who was caught by us voting continuously in the booth. People want to get rid of Ramesh Bidhuri as they are fed up of his abusive behaviour. Due to this factor, BJP is employing unfair means but we would not allow this to continue. The person who was engaged in bogus voting has been caught and the police inspector employed at the booth who was lax in carrying out his duty has been removed from here," AAP Candidate Raghav Chadha said
Former president Pranab Mukherjee voted at a polling station in K Kamraj Lane, during the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections in New Delhi.
Mr Mukherjee didn't vote in 2014 Lok Sabha polls to affirm the view that the President's post should be seen as neutral.
Voting In India Has Been "A Really Inspiring Experience" Australia's Envoy Harinder Sidhu"It's been a really inspiring experience. How can you get so many people to voting? The answer is a well-organised Election Commission and its officials. It's a good and organised
"I'm really impressed with EVMs, we don't have those in Australia. I think even with paper ballots which we have in Australia, it's always a case where there's a risk to integrity in any system. VVPAT is actually a good development."
Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Phase 6 LIVE: Delhi Lieutenant Governor Votes In Greater KailashDelhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and his family members voted during the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections, at a polling booth in Delhi's Greater Kailash.
Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Phase 6 LIVE: Chief Election Commissioner Votes In DelhiChief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora voted a polling station, at Nirman Bhawan in New Delhi, along with his family
Delhi Voting LIVE: At 111, Bachan Singh Is Delhi's Oldest Voter
111-year-old Bachan Singh is the oldest voter in Delhi, who carried a youthful enthusiasm on his way to the polling station in Tilak Vihar.
Till the assembly elections in 2015, Mr Singh used to cycle to the polling booth to cast his vote. This time however, he reached the booth in a car. He was later wheeled into the polling both using a chair.
Mr Singh suffered a paralytic attack around three months ago and has been on complete bed rest.
"I will vote for those who worked for us," he said on his way in to the polling booth.
Interestingly, Mr Singh doesn't know there's a party called AAP and that Arvind Kejriwal is the chief minister of Delhi. "He doesn''t even know that the Aam Aadmi Party exists. For him, every election has been a contest between the BJP and the Congress," his youngest son, Jasbeer Singh, 63, said.
Jasbeer Singh claims his father has never missed out on an election since 1951.
Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Phase 6 LIVE: Congress General-Secretary (UP East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Votes In Delhi
"It is very clear that the BJP government is going, people's anger will be expressed through voting", says Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, after voting.
Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Phase 6 LIVE: Congress Leader Priyanka Gandhi Votes In DelhiCongress leader Priyanka Gandhi, her husband Robert Vadra vote at a polling booth in Delhi's Lodhi Estate
Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Phase 6 LIVE: Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi Votes In Delhi
Congress president Rahul Gandhi casts his vote at a polling station in NP Senior Secondary School in Aurangzeb Lane
Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Phase 6 LIVE: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Shiela Dixit Vote In Delhi
UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi voted in the 2019 Lok Sabha election in which the Congress is trying to oust the BJP-led NDA government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mrs Gandhi voted at a polling booth in Nirman Bhavan in central Delhi.
Sonia Gandhi was accompanied by former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who is contesting from the North East Delhi parliamentary constituency against state BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and Aam Aadmi Party's Dilip Pandey.
In 2014, the BJP won all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.
Delhi Voting LIVE: Chief Minister Arvind Kerjiwal Votes At A Polling Booth In Civil LinesDelhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his family vote in Civil Lines.
Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Phase 6 LIVE: Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj Votes In Delhi
Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj voted at a polling booth in Aurangzeb Lane.
Delhi Voting LIVE: BJP's Manoj Tiwari Casts His Vote In Yamuna Vihar
Delhi BJP Chief and candidate from North-East Delhi constituency, Manoj Tiwari casts his vote at a polling booth in Yamuna Vihar. He is contesting against Congress's Sheila Dikshit and AAP's Dilip Pandey.
Atishi, AAP Candidate from East Delhi, voted at a polling booth in Jangpura. She is up against BJP's Gautam Gambhir and Congress's Arvinder Singh Lovely
Delhi Voting LIVE: Leaders From BJP, Congress Cast Their Vote
As Delhi votes in the crucial phase 6 of the Lok Sabha polls today, cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir (BJP), former Union Minister Ajay Maken (Congress) and MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely (Congress) cast their votes.
Gautam Gambhir is up against Congress's Arvinder Singh Lovely and Aam Aadmi Party's Atishi from East Delhi constituency.
Ajay Maken is contesting from the New Delhi seat against BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi and AAP's Brijesh Goyal.
Polling is on for the Chandni Chowk, East Delhi, New Delhi, North East Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi, North West Delhi seats which represents the union territory of Delhi in Parliament.
Delhi Voting LIVE: Deputy Chief Minister And AAP Leader Manish Sisodia Casts His VoteDelhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and his wife Seema Sisodia vote at a polling station in East Delhi
Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Phase 6 LIVE: President Ram Nath Kovind Votes In Delhi
President Ram Nath Kovind and his wife Savita Kovind cast their vote in Delhi today during the penultimate phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. President Kovind, along with the First Lady, went to polling booth number ten in Rashtrapati Bhavan premises.
Delhi Voting LIVE: Three-Cornered Fight In The National Capital
State chiefs of the three main parties - Congress, BJP and Aam Aadmi Party - are fighting from a single constituency - North East Delhi. At least 164 candidates, 18 of them women, are fighting for the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital. The BJP is looking at a stellar win like it did in 2014 when the party took all the seven seats.
In North East Delhi constituency, the city's BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit and Delhi AAP chief Dilip Pandey will fight it out.
Apart from the three city chiefs of the main parties, the other prominent candidates are BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi, who is contesting from New Delhi, and AAP's Atishi, contesting from East Delhi.
Olympian boxer Vijender Singh is making his electoral debut from South Delhi on a BJP ticket. Union minister Harsh Vardhan is contesting from Chandni Chowk, and cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir is fighting on a BJP ticket from East Delhi.
A total of 13,819 polling stations has been set up at 2,700 locations across Delhi, with one model polling station in each of the 70 assembly segments. Seventeen polling stations will be staffed only by women.
According to the summary of the electoral roll published on April 23, there are over 1.43 crore voters in Delhi - 78,73,022 male and 64,42,762 female, while 669 belong to the third gender. At least 2,54,723 voters are in the age group of 18 and 19.
Delhi Voting LIVE: Former Delhi Chief Minister and Congress Leader Sheila Dikshit Casts VoteCongress's Sheila Dikshit, who is contesting from north-east Delhi constituency, casts her vote at a polling booth in Nizamuddin (East).
BJP's East-Delhi candidate Gautam Gambhir and his wife Natasha Jain voted at Old Rajinder Nagar in New Delhi
Delhi Voting LIVE: It's BJP vs Congress vs AAP In The National Capital
Delhi's seven seats are seeing a three-cornered battle between the BJP, Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress, with ex-chief minister Sheila Dikshit, Union Minister Harshvardhan, former Olympian boxer Vijender Singh and cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir fighting for electoral victory.
Lok Sabha Elections 2019 LIVE: Which States and Union Territories Are Voting Today?
Voting is being held today in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 10 in Haryana, seven in Delhi, four in Jharkhand and eight each in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal
Gurgaon Voting: India Cricket Captain Virat Kohli VotesVirat Kohli was among the first few to cast his vote in Gurugram (Gurgaon) this morning. He cast his vote at the polling booth set up in Pinecrest School in Gurgaon.
Delhi Voting LIVE: The General Trend
Today is a crucial day of voting, which will see the national capital - Delhi - and its neighboring city Gurgaon go to polls. Though Delhi contributes to only 7 seats of the 543 in the lower house of parliament, it is considered a crucial indicator to who will form the government in the Centre. It has been observed that since 1998, whichever party has got the higher number of seats in Delhi has also gone ahead to win the overall general election. In 2014, all 7 seats were won by the BJP.
Voting for phase 6 of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections began at 7 am today. This phase has 59 parliamentary constituencies going to polls across 6 states and 1 union terriroty. After today's voting, polling for the 2019 general elections will be complete in 483 of the total 543 Lok Sabha constituencies. The result for all 543 seats will be declared together on May 23.
