Kumar Vishwas confident of AAP win in Amethi

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate for the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Kumar Vishwas, on Wednesday expressed confidence that the people of the area will vote for him, and added that it is first time that an election is actually taking place in Amethi.

"This is the first time that an election is actually taking place in Amethi. Our penance of four months and visiting 1200 villages will pay off. We have heard the problems of people here and spent nights," said Vishwas, who is challenging Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Bharatiya Janata Party's Smriti Irani.

"The youth have turned up in great numbers. There are long queues in each and every polling booth. Last time, there was 40 percent voting in Amethi, but, I am pretty confident that there will be around 60-70 percent voting this time," he added.

On Rahul Gandhi visiting Amethi on polling day for the first time, Vishwas said, "Everyone has to come down to the battlefield. We had said earlier also that we are not here to do politics, but to change it. And politics has changed, so has Amethi. Chal gayi Amethi mein Jhaadu. (The broom is sweeping through Amethi)"

Sixty-four Lok Sabha constituencies spread over seven states and 175 assembly constituencies in the Seemandhra region went to polls early in the morning amid tight security.

Today is the eighth and penultimate phase of the Lok Sabha elections. The Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls are 25 in Andhra Pradesh, 15 in Uttar Pradesh, seven in Bihar, six in West Bengal, five in Uttarakhand, four in Himachal Pradesh and two in Jammu and Kashmir.

Prominent candidates in the fray are Congress Party vice president Rahul Gandhi, Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma, Union HRD Minister M.M. Pallam Raju, ex-Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif and television actress Smriti Irani.

Varun Gandhi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Anurag Thakur, Ram Vilas Paswan, Rabri Devi and Kumar Vishwas are the other prominent leaders whose political future will be decided today.

The Election Commission has reportedly taken several steps to ensure free and fair polling during the last two phases of the general elections.