Delhi assembly elections: Voting for will begin at 8 am today. (File)
Voting for the Delhi assembly polls will begin at 8 am today, with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party hoping for a clean sweep reminiscent of its electoral performance in the national capital five years ago. A resurgent BJP, on the other hand, wishes to regain a foothold in the city after spending over two decades out of power.
The run-up to the elections was marked by a stormy campaign that saw the BJP launching an all-out attack on the Aam Aadmi Party government, with leaders such as party MP Parvesh Verma, Union Minister Anurag Thakur, Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accusing the Arvind Kejriwal government of backing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the city.
Intent on keeping its campaign "positive", the Aam Aadmi Party showcased the pro-people initiatives taken up in the national capital such as the slashing of electricity rates, installation of CCTV cameras and free bus rides for women. The ruling party expects a repeat of the 2015 elections, when it bagged 67 of the 70 assembly seats in the national capital, leaving just three for the BJP and none for the Congress.
The Congress, which hopes to emerge as the dark horse in the race, is hinging its prospects on development works carried out under late Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit from December 1998 to December 2013.
In view of the ongoing protests at Shaheen Bagh, the Election Commission has categorised all five polling stations in the area as "critical", and undertaken confidence-building measures to reassure voters. The police, for its part, have deployed around 40,000 personnel, 19,000 home guards and 190 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces to prevent any untoward incident. As many as 1.47 crore eligible voters are expected to come out to vote through the day.
The day preceding the elections saw politicians cutting across party lines indulge in hectic religious activities, with both Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari visiting prominent temples in the city.
The high-octane election campaign took several controversial turns, often requiring the Election Commission's intervention, before finally coming to an end at 6 pm on Thursday. While BJP MP Parvesh Verma and Union Minister Anurag Thakur were banned from campaigning for extended periods on charges of making communally sensitive statements, Yogi Adityanath - BJP star campaigner and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister - was issued a show cause notice for claiming that the Aam Aadmi Party government feeds "biryani" to Shaheen Bagh protesters.
Arvind Kejriwal also received two show cause notices, one for promising mohalla clinics at courts across the city after the start of the Model Code of Conduct and the second for posting a Twitter video that the poll body believed capable of sparking communal tensions
Votes polled in the election, slated to wind up at 6 pm, will be counted on February 11.