Three-way battle in Delhi for over 12 mn voters (Curtainraiser - Election Special)

Over 12 million voters will Thursday decide the fate of three main political parties - the BJP, the Congress and the AAP - in Delhi's seven Lok Sabha constituencies.

The day-long polling will begin at 7 a.m. and go on till 6 p.m. for voters to choose among 150 candidates, including 57 independents.

With the emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after last December's Delhi assembly election, the stage is set for a three-way fight in the national capital.

The Congress, which lost control of Delhi after the assembly polls, is trying its best to lure the voters, while a confident Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the vocal AAP that ruled Delhi for 49 days are being seen as the favourites by political pundits.

While both the BJP and AAP have claimed they will win all seven seats in Delhi, the Congress, whose 15-year rule in Delhi ended in December, said voters who had ignored the party in December have returned.

However, political observers feel the BJP has the upper hand in Delhi and that the AAP could win two seats.

Campaigning in Delhi ended Tuesday evening as candidates of all the three parties held scores of roadshows, door-to-door campaigns, public meetings and rallies across the city as they made one last attempt to woo the voters.

As per the Election Commission, 12,760,372 Delhiites will be eligible to cast their votes, of which 7,057,648 are males and 5,657,785 are females while 839 fall in the 'others' category.

There are 11,763 polling stations in Delhi, of which 417 are sensitive booths and 90 hyper-sensitive booths. Seventy model polling stations will be set up.

For the sensitive and hyper-sensitive booths, the balloting process would be videographed and extra Delhi Police personnel will be deployed. In addition, mobile phones will not be allowed inside any of the polling stations in Delhi.