Delhi records 67.08 percent voter turnout

The Election Commission of India on Saturday said that the capital recorded 67.08 percent voter turnout in the assembly elections which took place today.

"We are happy to announce this election has been unprecedented in terms of voter turnout, poll percentage has crossed 67.08 percent. The poll percentage for Delhi Assembly election is expected go a little bit further," said Chief Electoral Officer Bhushan Kumar.

"The whole election went peacefully. There were no difficulties in terms of any issue which needed great deal of intervention," he added.

Northeast Delhi reported the highest voter turnout of 66.37%, the lowest was in South Delhi with 61.7%. Central Delhi recorded 64.66% turnout, East Delhi 64.67%, New Delhi 59.29% and North Delhi 65.56%. The polling percentage in Northwest Delhi was 62.1%, Southwest Delhi recorded 63.66% and West Delhi 64.48%.

Earlier today, President Pranab Mukherjee, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her daughter and son-in-law Priyanka and Robert Vadra, former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and BJP leaders Maneka Gandhi, Varun Gandhi and Jagdish Mukhi are among those who cast their votes today.

The chief ministerial candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Aam Aadmi Party and Congress - Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal and Ajay Maken - also cast their votes.

Polling for the 70-member Delhi assembly began at 8 a.m. amid tight security. According to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi, all arrangements are in place to ensure free and fair polling.

About 55,000 police personnel have been deployed to ensure hassle free voting. The police will also undertake patrolling in different parts of the capital to prevent the distribution of liquor, money or any other allurements.

Over 1.33 crore electorate will decide the fate of 673 candidates.

The polling is presently on at 12,177 polling stations. Of these, 714 have been declared as critical and 191 as highly critical. Voting will continue till 6 p.m. in the evening.