Delhi went to polls on Saturday morning at 8 am. The national capital is witnessing a triangular contest among the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which won a landslide majority in the 2015 Assembly elections, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. In the last poll, AAP had won 67 seats, the BJP 3, while the Congress couldn’t even manage open its account.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP is hoping to retain power for the third consecutive term, the first being the 49-day government in 2015. The party’s official handle posted a video “Kejriwal Mashup” on the day of the polls. The party captioned it with the lyrics of the video, “Bijli sasti kaun karayega…Free mein paani kaun dilayega…“
Bijli sasti kaun karayega…
Free mein paani kaun dilayega…#Vote4Jhadu pic.twitter.com/2lHZqgpthY— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) February 8, 2020
The video is an old spoof made by All India Bakchod (AIB) back in 2014. The original song, however, is Shah Rukh Khan’s “Lungi Dance” from the movie Chennai Express.
Over 1.47 crore people are eligible to exercise their franchise in the polls that will decide the fate of 672 candidates. There are over 81 lakh male voters, 66.80 lakh female voters, and 869 third-gender voters, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh has said.
Around 2.33 lakh voters are in the age group of 18-19, 2.04 lakh voters are senior citizens aged 80, while there are 11,608 service voters, according to officials.
Security forces have kept a tight watch across the 70 constituencies, with police and paramilitary personnel keeping an “extra vigil” in sensitive areas like Shaheen Bagh, Jamia Nagar and Seelampuri.
Prominent candidates in the fray include Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, Atishi and Raghav Chadha of the AAP; four former mayors — Azad Singh, Yogender Chandolia, Ravinder Gupta and Khushi Ram — of the BJP; and Shivani Chopra, daughter of Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra.
(With input from Agencies)