Political bigwigs cast vote in New Delhi

New Delhi: All eyes were on the high-profile New Delhi constituency Wednesday where political heavyweights and the who`s who of Delhi descended to cast their votes.

Among the first to arrive to cast their votes were Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev and Vice President Hamid Ansari. The constituency, which is seeing an interesting contest between three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal and Bharatiya Janata Party`s (BJP) senior leader Vijender Gupta, has 186 polling booths. A beaming Dikshit escorted Congress president Sonia Gandhi to the polling booth in Nirman Bhavan, which houses several central government ministries. Dikshit and Gandhi, who alighted from a black Range Rover at the gate, stood in queue for a few minutes to vote, but were later ushered inside the booth by security officials. Interestingly, BJP leader Maneka Gandhi who arrived before them was also waiting in the queue for her turn. Both Sonia Gandhi and her sister-in-law Maneka glanced at each other, but did not exchange greetings. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had to wait for around half an hour before he could vote at the Aurangzeb Road polling booth. Attired in an off-sleeve jacket and kurta-pyjama, a smiling Rahul Gandhi chatted with people as he waited for his turn to vote. His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, smartly turned out in a beige skirt and full-sleeved top, also cast her vote in the constituency. She was accompanied by her husband Robert Vadra. New Delhi constituency is home to top bureaucrats and political bigwigs. Kejriwal, after casting his vote, exuded confidence of winning the election. He said people were fed up of corruption and wanted change. Among the other notable personalities who came to vote were former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Navy chief Admiral DK Joshi, Army chief General Bikram Singh and Supreme Court judges. Till 4 pm, polling was brisk at various polling stations in New Delhi and touched 56 percent. In 2008, the constituency recorded 56 percent voting. New Delhi has an electorate of over 1.24 lakh.