Delhi elections: Counting to begin at 8 am, fate of 672 candidates to unravel

The counting of votes for the Delhi Assembly Elections 2020 will begin at 8 am on Tuesday morning. The votes were polled on February 8 in the national capital. On Sunday, Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh said that 21 centers have been set up in the city for the counting of votes. The term of the current 70-seat Assembly, where AAP holds an absolute majority, will expire on February 22.

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The counting centres are located at CWG Sports Complex in East Delhi, NSIT Dwarka in West Delhi, Meerabai Institute of Technology and GB Pant Institute of Technology in Southeast Delhi, Sir CV Raman ITI, Dheerpur in Central Delhi, and Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Bawana in North Delhi, among other places. 

The Delhi Assembly elections witnessed a voting percentage of 62.59%, around 5% less than the polls held in 2015. The highest voting of 71.6% was reported from the Ballimaran Assembly constituency, while the lowest turnout was in Delhi cantonment, which reported 45.4% voting.

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Delhi Election Campaign 

With 672 candidates in the fray, the Delhi Assembly Elections saw a fierce election campaign of the ruling AAP and the BJP, while the Congress party's presence remained almost absent from the picture. The AAP is seeking to retain power on development poll plank and a repeat of their stellar 2015 Assembly Elections performance. Meanwhile, the BJP is fighting a prestige battle to win the national capital following months of anti-government demonstrations across the country, with Delhi's Shaheen Bagh at the crux of their campaign. Union Home Minister Amit Shah led the saffron charge on its planks of nationalism and Hindutva.

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Republic's Jan Ki Baat exit polls predicted an easy victory for AAP with 48-61 seats, while the BJP is predicted to garner only 9-21 seats and 0-1 seats for Congress. It is even argued that the eroding vote share of the Congress party may benefit AAP. Congress was in power at the national capital for 15 years, however, the party drew none in 2015 polls. Congress contested the polls in coalition with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD).

(PTI photo for representation)

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