Delhi witnessed a slow start in voter turnout for the assembly elections, with only 8.10% of voters casting their ballots by 9 AM, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI). By 11 AM, the turnout had increased to 19.95%. Among the districts, North East Delhi recorded the highest turnout at 10.70%, followed by South West Delhi at 9.34%. Meanwhile, the New Delhi district saw one of the lowest turnouts at just 6.51%. Several other districts, including Central, East, and South Delhi, reported turnout figures ranging between 6.67% and 8.92%. In parallel, the Milkipur assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh recorded 13.34% voter participation in its by-election, while Tamil Nadu’s Erode (East) reported 10.95% turnout by 9 AM.
Polling began at 7 AM across all 70 assembly constituencies in Delhi, along with by-elections in two other seats, one each in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. With tight security in place, voting is taking place in key constituencies such as New Delhi, Kalkaji, Okhla, Mustafabad, and Greater Kailash. This election holds significant stakes for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which aims to secure a third consecutive term, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeks to reclaim power after 27 years. The Congress, which previously dominated Delhi politics but failed to win a seat in 2015 and 2020, hopes for a revival this time. AAP currently holds over 60 of the 70 assembly seats and is banking on its governance record to win re-election.
High-profile battles include the New Delhi constituency, where former Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal faces BJP’s Parvesh Verma and Congress’s Sandeep Dikshit. In Jangpura, AAP’s Manish Sisodia is up against Congress’s Farhad Suri and BJP’s Tarvinder Singh Marwah. In total, 699 candidates are contesting the 70 assembly seats in Delhi. Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh’s Milkipur constituency, a reserved seat for Scheduled Castes, the main battle is expected between Samajwadi Party’s Ajit Prasad and BJP’s Chandrabhanu Paswan. The counting of votes for all these elections is scheduled for February 8.
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