The voting for all 70 assembly seats in Delhi will held on Saturday with tight security arrangements across the national capital in view of ongoing anti-CAA protests at several places.
Over 1.47 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the electoral battle for Delhi, seen as a triangular contest among the ruling AAP, the Congress and the BJP.
While the AAP has fielded candidates on all 70 seast, the BJP and the Congress have entered into electoral agreements with other parties.
While the BJP left three seats for its allies JD(U) and the LJP, the Congress has given four seats to the RJD considering significant presence of Purvanchali voters or those who have roots in Bihar or eastern UP.
Here are some important facts about the elections to the 70-member Delhi assembly:
No. of eligible voters: 1,47,86,382 (1.47 crore)
No. of male voters: 81,05,236 (81.05 lakh)
No. of female voters: 66,80,277 (66.80 lakh)
No. of other voters: 869
Number of NRI Voters: 498
Number of Service Voters: 11608
Total No. of candidates: 672
Total No. of male candidates: 593
Total No. of female candidates: 79
No. of EVMs & VVPATs to be used in the elections:
Balloting Unit (BU): 34222
Control Unit (CU): 18765
VVPAT: 20385
POLLING LOCATIONS: 2688
POLLING STATIONS: 13750
No. of Assembly Constituencies: 70
Smallest constituency by area: BALLIMARAN (2.5 sq km)
Largest constituency by area: NARELA (143.42 sq km)
Smallest constituency by size of electorate: CHANDNI CHOWK (1,25,684 votes)
Largest constituency by size of electorate: MATIALA (4,23,682 votes)
How to check your assembly:
Visit ceodelhi.gov.in/home.aspx to check your assembly constituency
How to check your name in voter list:
Go to the official website of CEO Delhi. Go to'Check Your Name in The Voter's List (Electoral Roll) By Voter ID No' or 'Check Your Name in The Voter's List (Electoral Roll) By Voter's Name'
Check your polling booth:
Go to National Voters' Services Portal (NVSP) and 'Search in Electoral Roll'. Result will throw all the details.
Via SMS:
Call 1950 to find out your polling booth or send an SMS to 1950 with space
Security arrangments
In view of the ongoing anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh, the Delhi CEO Office has put all five polling stations in the area under the "critical" category, and confidence-building measures are continuously being undertaken to reassure voters, officials said.
Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh reiterated that the area is under "tight vigil" and "there is no obstruction" in areas where poll activities will be conducted, so voters will face no problems.
"As far as critical polling stations are concerned, there are 516 locations and 3,704 booths in that category," Singh said.
Besides police security, polling stations falling in the "critical category" get paramilitary cover. Activities will be monitored through webcasting, he said.
Delhi Police officials have said they have categorised 3,141 'critical booths' and 144 'vulnerable booths' out of the total 13,750 polling booths. Two-hundred polling booths have been categorised as 'critical' and 90 as 'vulnerable' in North Delhi's Okhla (including Jamia Nagar and Seelampur).
The officials said 60,000 security personnel, including 38,400 police personnel, 19,000 home guards and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). In addition to that, the police will use drones and social media monitoring for the polling day vigil.
Police have already started motorcycle and foot patrolling in sensitive areas, whereas paramilitary forces have been deployed in sensitive booths across the city.
Drones mounted with cameras will keep a watch on poll proceedings. Delhi Police will also install high-end Facial Recognition System in and around the 'vulnerable' polling booths.
"190 companies of paramilitary forces and 19000 home guards are also deployed for smooth conduct of elections tomorrow," Sharat Kumar Sinha, DCP, Nodal said on Friday.
"Not only Shaheen Bagh but all places which are 'critical' or 'vulnerable', adequate arrangements have been made there," he said.
