Election Commission gears up to ensure peaceful polling; 714 booths marked as 'critical'

NEW DELHI: Over 1.33 crore electorate will decide the fate of 673 candidates in the fray for the Delhi Assembly elections with the poll panel making elaborate arrangements for smooth and peaceful conduct of polling to be held from 8 AM to 6 PM on Saturday.

According to the Election Commission, polling will take place at 12,177 polling stations, of which 714 have been identified as "critical". Of these, 191 are "highly critical".

For the first time, indelible ink will be applied with brush instead of wooden stick.

"As many as 95,000 government officials have been roped in for election duty to ensure smooth conduct of the polling process. Besides, adequate numbers of security personnel will be deployed at all polling booths," Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Chandra Bhushan Kumar said.

He said the number of total electorate in Delhi stands at 1,33,09,078 -- 73,89,089 males; 59,19,127 females; and 862 belonging to the third gender.

"There are 2,27,316 voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years, 36,93,975 in the age group of 20 to 29 years, while 311 electors are above 100 years old," he added.

The Matia Mahal constituency has the largest number of electorate at 3,47,245 and Chandni Chowk the lowest at 1,13,777, Kumar said.

A total of 673 candidates are in the fray. The Burari constituency in North Delhi has a maximum of 18 candidates while the Ambedkar Nagar seat in South Delhi has the lowest number of contenders at four.

Bhushan said as many as 21,702 political rallies were held by different parties during the campaign.

"We have already distributed photo voter slips in all the areas. If any voter has not got the slip, we will set up help desks on the day of polling where they can get it on the spot.

"If a voter is not carrying the voter ID, he or she can cast vote with carrying any one of 11 documents like passport and driving license," he said.

According to the CEO, polling will begin at 8 AM and continue till 6 PM on February 7.