Delhi Assembly Elections 2020: Nearly 2,700 polling stations have been set up.
Highlights
- 1.47 crore people eligible to vote in Delhi assembly election
- BJP looking to unseat Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
- High-octane campaign saw bitter face-off, communally-charged attacks
Exit polls predicted today that Delhi has granted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a third consecutive term, and the BJP a better performance than last time. Both parties have called internal meetings - the Aam Aadmi Party to discuss security for the Electronic voting Machines and the BJP to discuss the election. The national capital turned out in strength to vote - slowly at first, and then picking speed. Provisional figures released by the Election Commission show a turnout of 57 per cent - low compared to last year's 67.5 percent -- but the Chief Electoral Officer said it is "bound to increase". The BJP, which won just three seats last time to a sweeping 67 of AAP, held a mega campaign featuring 40 star campaigners. The Congress, which failed to open its account last time, held a low-key campaign. The votes will be counted on Tuesday.
Here are the top 10 developments in the Delhi assembly election:
An aggregate of five exit polls indicated that Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party will win the election with 56 seats - a sharp drop from its record score of 2015. The majority mark in the 70-seat state assembly stands at 36. The BJP is expected to get 14 seats, up from three in 2015. Exit polls, though, have often got it wrong.
The BJP's Amit Shah called a meeting of party MPs as exit polls predicted am AAP victory. After the meeting, senior BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi said exit polls were not "exact". "Exit polls don't have their math right. Also, the data is collected only till 4 or 5 pm," she added.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also held a parallel meeting, which was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, election strategist Prashant Kishor and other party leaders to discuss the security of Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs ahead of counting day.
"All these exit polls will fail. Please save this tweet from me. The BJP will form government in the city with 48 seats. Please do not look for excuses and blame the EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines)," a tweet from Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari read.
AAP went into the election with the tough task of matching its 2015 tally, showcasing the work on the education and health sector. The party is banking on its free power and water, improvement of city schools and opening of mohalla clinics.
The BJP held a high-voltage campaign, confident that its seven-out-of-seven-score in last year's Lok Sabha polls in Delhi indicates a positive curve that may even unseat Mr Kejriwal. The party, which has not yet named a contender for the Chief Minister's job, has called Mr Kejriwal a "terrorist" who makes false promises and sides with "anti-national" elements.
The Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 years before being decimated by the AAP, has led a relatively lacklustre campaign. The party's top leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have barely campaigned for its candidates.
The poll will be the BJP's first electoral test since huge protests erupted nearly two months ago over the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which is accused of violating India's secular constitution and discriminating against Muslims.
The shootings took place just days after provocative slogans by Union Minister and BJP leaders, including one by minister Anurag Thakur egging on supporters to "shoot traitors". Shaheen Bagh and anti-CAA protests have been used by top leaders of the BJP including PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to ask for votes.
In the 2015 assembly polls, the AAP had won 54.3 per cent of the vote, while the BJP got 32 per cent and the Congress managed just 9.6 per cent. While the AAP won 67 seats in 2015, since then the party has conceded one seat to the BJP in a bypoll and six of its lawmakers have been disqualified over joining other parties.
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