NEW DELHI, Feb 8 (NNN-PTI) – India’s election commission officials said, all arrangements and adequate security measures were put in place for the upcoming local elections scheduled to take place on Saturday (today), in the capital city Delhi.
“All preparations are in place for tomorrow’s (today’s) assembly elections,” a local government official associated with the conduct of polls said. “The election commission has also made arrangements for special postal ballot facility.”
Officials said, 672 candidates are in the election fray for the 70 seats, and around 14.7 million voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections.
According to the state-run broadcaster, All India Radio (AIR), 13,750 polling stations have been set up. Authorities have beefed up security apparatus across the city ahead of voting.
“Around 40,000 police personnel and several companies of paramilitary force have been deployed for security of poling premises. In addition, 19,000 home guards will assist in ensuring security for polling booths and premises,” the broadcaster said.
The services of Delhi Metro began at 4:00 a.m. (local time) this morning, to facilitate polling personnel and others to reach their destination on time.
In the ongoing elections, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of the Delhi’s National Capital Territory, is seeking to regain power under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, who is facing tough competition from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.
The counting of votes will take place on Feb 11.
During the city’s previous elections, held in 2015, AAP swept polls and registered a landslide victory by winning 67 of 70 seats. The BJP won just three, while India’s grand old Congress party failed to win a single seat.
The election commission has issued a notification restricting media from conducting or publishing any exit poll during local elections in Delhi today.– NNN-PTI
