New Delhi

Good numbers in South Delhi

NEW DELHI: Voters turned out in good numbers in the South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency here on Saturday to elect their ten legislators to the Delhi Assembly.

With no complaints of any untoward incident, the polls were by and large conducted peacefully amid heavy police presence.

At most polling stations, maximum polling was reported between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Long queues were seen outside polling stations in Tughlakabad, Badarpur village and Ambedkar Nagar.

Police personnel manning the polling stations allowed only bona fide voters inside after checking slips containing details of their names and voter numbers.

Walking with the help of a stick, 62-year-old Darshan Premi, who suffered a paralytic attack some years ago and has difficulty in speaking, came to exercise his franchise for the “right candidate” at polling booth No.114 at Palam, where 30 votes had been polled out of 936 by 9 a.m.

Another senior citizen, Prehlad Rana, said it was imperative for all citizens to vote. “The villages in our area are besieged with several problems. We have no parks, there is no community centre. Water is another problem. The new MLA should address all these concerns,” said the elderly man, who came to vote at a polling booth in Bijwasan, where the main contest is between the BJP’s Sat Parkash Rana and Vijay Kumar Lochav, the sitting Congress MLA.

At several polling stations in Bijwasan, the police personnel did not allow voters to carry handbags or mobile phones inside.

An interesting contest is on the cards in Chhattarpur, where the richest MLA aspirant, Kanwar Singh Tanwar, from the Bahujan Samaj Party is facing sitting MLA Balram Tanwar of the Congress and former MLA Brahm Singh Tanwar of the BJP.

Emerging out of a polling booth in the area, Jasbir Singh, a local, said the people expected the new MLA of the area to rectify the fast-running electricity meters, install sewer lines and provide water facilities.

Greeting locals and supporters as he undertook a round in Mehrauli, Congress rebel Satbir Singh, who fought as an Independent, sounded positive about his victory. “A lot of people are coming out to vote. Locals know me well and have seen my work,” he asserted.

Mr. Singh, who is a strong Jat leader, a former Mayor and a sitting councillor, is seen to have an advantage over the two “outsiders” -- Yoganand Shastri from the Congress and the BJP’s Sher Singh Dagar.

At polling booth No.22 in Deoli, 189 of the total of 877 registered voters persons had exercised their franchise by 1 p.m.

“The polling has been peaceful. Most voters are carrying their election cards, while the others are bringing their license, passport or bank passbooks. Everyone has valid identity proof,” said the presiding officer at a polling station at Ambedkar Nagar.

At polling booth 48 in the freshly carved Sangam Vihar Assembly seat, 395 of the 1,189 voters had cast their vote by 1-30 p.m.

Outside the Lal Kuan polling station in Tughlakabad, a scuffle broke out between the BSP and BJP supporters.

BJP candidate and sitting MLA Ramesh Bidhuri alleged that the BSP workers were “campaigning inside the premises of the polling station”.

“They threatened our workers when they protested. The BJP workers complained to the police and later called me up. They misbehaved with me and beat us up,” alleged Mr. Bidhuri. Meanwhile, polling booth 21 at Badarpur village recorded 43 per cent turnout by 3 p.m.

At Nehru Camp in Kalkaji, BSP workers accused the police of lathi-charging people outside one of the polling stations. They had complained to the authorities about “bogus voting”. However, the police maintained that they had only “dispersed” some locals who were protesting that some persons had been let inside the polling station after the 5 p.m. deadline.

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