Delhi Assembly Polls 2020: Voting For 70 Seats Ends, Significant Dip In Voter Turnout Versus 2015

The voting for 70 Assembly seats in Delhi ended at 6 pm today. According the reports, the national capital witnessed significant dip in the voter turnout compared to 2015 polls. Delhi recorded a voter turnout of 54 per cent by 5 pm on Saturday, poll officials said. There was a rise in the voting percentage after initial sluggishness, especially in morning hours. "The polling percentage recorded till 5 pm is 54.14 per cent," a Delhi CEO official said. Of the 11 districts, northeast Delhi recorded a turnout of 63.4 per cent, the highest, while New Delhi saw 44.29 per cent, the lowest.

The three minority-dominated seats of Mustafabad, Matia Mahal and Seelampur recorded the highest voter turnout in the Assembly elections here on Saturday, polls officials said. According to the data shared by the officials, Mustafabad in northeast Delhi recorded 66.29 per cent voter turnout till 5 pm.

Matia Mahal in old Delhi, the area that saw anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act   protests, recorded a voter turnout of 65.62 per cent. Seelampur, another minority seat in northeast Delhi, recorded 64.92 per cent voting. The seat had also seen anti-CAA protests in December.

Till 5 pm, the national capital recorded a voter turnout of 57.87 per cent.

Exit polls for the Delhi assembly election forecast a comfortable victory for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party despite a likely rise in tally for the BJP in the 70-member House. The Times Now-Ipsos exit polls predicted that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will retain his chair with the AAP winning 44 seats against 26 for the BJP.

The Republic-Jan ki Baat survey gave the AAP 48-61 seats and the BJP 9-21 seats. The TV9 Bharatvarsh-Cicero predicted 54 seats for the AAP, 15 for the BJP and one for the Congress.

The exit polls predicted little improvement in the fortunes of the Congress which could not bag any seat in the 2015 polls. The AAP had scored an overwhelming victory in the 2015 polls, winning 67 seats and reducing the BJP to three.