Delhites, be ready for groundless promises! AAP leads in 57 of 70 seats; BJP in 13

New Delhi, February 11: Amid a powerful challenge from Bhartaiya Janata Party in Delhi Assembly Poll, CM Arvind Kejriwal leads to maintain a solid position in his New Delhi constituency against his rival candidates as observed in the early trends. CM Kejriwal, while leading by 6,413 votes against BJP's Sunil Yadav who has bagged 5,182 votes, AAP is leading in 57 of the 70 seats in the assembly and the BJP in 13, as noted by the Election Commission by 11 am.

 

While New Delhi constituency has a history of being represented by a Chief Minister, AAP candidate Kejriwal, who promised a ton of developments in last five years but certainly failed to fulfil them, is to retain power in the national capital. The Congress meanwhile which was once a dominant force in Delhi, is hoping for revival of its electoral fortunes.

 

A teetering election campaign, a leadership crisis and over-dependence on legacy appeared to be the reasons behind the Congress’ dismal show in early trends of the Delhi Assembly Poll results, with the party failing to open its account till 11.20am on Tuesday. The Congress, which ruled Delhi consecutively for 15 years from 1998 to 2013, was staring at a wipeout again after having failed to win any seat in the 2015 assembly elections in the national capital. A senior Delhi Congress leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, blamed over-dependence on the past for the party’s poor show.

 

Meanwhile Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia on Twitter congratulated Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal for the sweeping victory. "The people of Delhi have placed their trust in your team again. Hope you will make the city cleaner, safer and better. Wishing you all the best!", he noted.

Counting of votes polled in the high-stakes Delhi Assembly election began today morning amid tight security at various centres set up to carry out the exercise. The election, largely seen as a battle between the AAP and the BJP, was held on Saturday (8), sealing the fate of 672 candidates, 593 men and 79 women.

 

Nearly 24 hours after the polling ended in Delhi, the Election Commission on Sunday announced that the final voter turnout was 62.59 per cent, five per cent less than 2015, and asserted that it followed the laid down process to compile data, after the AAP questioned the delay.

 

 

While over 1.47 crore people were eligible to vote in the Delhi polls, including 2.33 lakh in the age group of 18-19, the turnout in the 2015 Assembly polls stood at 67.47 per cent. The AAP had routed rival parties in the last Assembly polls, bagging 67 seats while the BJP was reduced to mere three seats and the Congress had drawn a blank.

 

The counting centres are located across 11 districts, including at CWG Sports Complex in east Delhi, NSIT Dwarka in west Delhi, Meerabai Institute of Technology and G B Pant Institute of Technology in southeast Delhi, Sir CV Raman ITI, Dheerpur in central Delhi, and Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Bawana in north Delhi.