Delhi election result 2020: Counting begins at 11 districts in presence of 33 observers

New Delhi: The counting of votes begins for the 70-member Assembly seats on Tuesday (February 11) to decide the fate of about 672 candidates from the Aam Aadmi Party, BJP and Congress. 

The counting centres are located across the 11 districts, including at CWG Sports Complex in East Delhi, NSIT Dwarka in West Delhi, Meerabai Institute of Technology and G B Pant Institute of Technology in Southeast Delhi, Sir CV Raman ITI, Dheerpur in Central Delhi, and Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Bawana in North Delhi, informed Delhi CEO Ranbir Singh on Sunday.

There will be 33 counting observers at these counting centres. Critical and vulnerable polling locations numbered 545 and spanned 3,843 booths. 

There were 13,780 polling booths where every vote was accounted for by the presiding officers which is a time-consuming exercise, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena said at a press conference on Sunday.

In the wake of ongoing anti-CAA protest in Shaheen Bagh, the Delhi CEO's Office had put all five polling stations in the area under the "critical" category. Security personnel was deputed at strong rooms storing electronic voting machines (EVMs).

A day ahead of the polls, Delhi's chief electoral officer had said all EVMs were tested and they were "foolproof and non-tamperable".

Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP sought to retain power on development plank, against the BJP that ran an aggressive campaign centred around the issues of anti-CAA protests and nationalism.

Most exit polls also predicted that the Congress is unlikely to open its account even this time in Delhi, which it ruled from 1998 to 2013.

Looking to capture power after 22 years, the BJP had mounted one of the most aggressive campaigns in the Delhi Assembly polls, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah leading the saffron charge on its planks of Hindutva and nationalism, and its strident opposition to Shaheen Bagh protests.

Okhla constituency recorded 58.84 per cent. Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar fall in Okhla assembly constituency, where hectic polling had taken place till late afternoon.

Notably, the 2015 Assembly polls recorded 67.47 per cent turnout of voters. The AAP had routed rival parties bagging 67 seats, and the BJP was reduced to mere three seats, while the Congress had drawn a blank. 

(With Agency Inputs)