Polling begins in India`s capital Delhi

New Delhi, Nov 29 (PTI) Polling for the Assembly elections began Saturday morning in India's capital Delhi, where Congress is engaged in a keen electoral battle with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to record a historic third consecutive term in power.

Elections are being held in 69 out of the 70 Assembly
constituencies while polling for the remaining one will be
held on December 13. The polling for the Rajendra Nagar seat
was rescheduled after BJP candidate Puran Chand Yogi allegedly
committed suicide in the midst of campaigning.

The voting began at 8 a.m. IST at 10,993 polling stations
spread across the capital amid tight security. Over 52,000
police personnel have been deployed, an official at the
Delhi Electoral Office said.

A total of 1,05,82,369 voters, including 46.98 lakh
women, will exercise their franchise in Delhi. There are 863
candidates.

The stakes in this elections are high for Sheila Dikshit,
Chief Minister for the past ten years, who faces voters on
development agenda while BJP, led by its Chief Ministerial
candidate V K Malhotra, is hoping to cash in on
anti-incumbency and Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) 'spoiler
effect' on the Congress.

Besides Dikshit and Malhotra, the other candidates whose
fate will be decided in today's election are ministers A K
Walia, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Yoganand Shastri and Raj Kumar
Chouhan, Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan and Leader of the
Opposition Jagdish Mukhi, among others.

All eyes are on Mayawati-led BSP, which is contesting
all the seats, as the party had improved its tally from two to
17 in last year's municipal elections. PTI