India General Elections 2024: Low voter turnout in Delhi at 54.3 per cent

Voters show their inked fingers outside a polling station at Okhla in New Delhi on Saturday. PIC/PTI

A voter turnout of 54.3% was recorded in Delhi on Saturday, with people braving scorching heat to exercise their franchise in the seven Lok Sabha constituencies.

Delhi had witnessed 60.52% voting in the 2019 General Election when the BJP had swept all the seats. The national capital saw a direct contest between the BJP and AAP-Congress alliance for the seven Lok Sabha constituencies on Saturday. The highest turnout of 57.97% was recorded in the North East Delhi constituency, while the New Delhi seat had the lowest voting percentage at 50.44%.

Chandni Chowk recorded 53.27% polling, East Delhi 53.69%, North West Delhi 53.17%, West Delhi 54.15% and South Delhi 51.84%. Poll officials said there were no reports of technical snags or delays in the commencement of voting at any polling station.

However, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat alleged she had to wait for almost an hour to cast her vote as the battery of the EVM control unit at her polling booth at St Columba's School in the New Delhi constituency "drained out". "We came to vote, they are saying that the machine's battery is down. If the machine's battery is down early in the morning, imagine what is the condition of the Election Commission," Karat said. Responding to Karat's allegation, the District Election Officer, New Delhi, said in a post on X that the battery of the control unit had drained out around 10 am and it was replaced within 15 minutes.

Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj also complained about alleged irregularities. "Worrying news coming from different parts of Delhi. In Captain Anuj Nayyar School in Janakpuri, the presiding officer tried to get the polling agents to sign the Form 17(C) in the morning itself," Atishi claimed in a post on X.

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