Rajinder Nagar by-poll: Campaigning to end today

Electioneering for the Rajinder Nagar by-election will come to an end on Tuesday evening and voting will be held on Thursday, between 7am and 6pm, office of the chief electoral officer said, adding that all preparations are in place for free and fair elections

Electioneering for the Rajinder Nagar by-election will come to an end on Tuesday evening and voting will be held on Thursday, between 7am and 6pm, office of the chief electoral officer said, adding that all preparations are in place for free and fair elections. The results will be declared on June 26.

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Chief electoral officer Ranbir Singh took stock of the preparations on Monday during a visit to the constituency, where he interacted with the polling officials.

“All arrangements have been put in place. 190 EVMs will be used for the by-election and 20% additional EVMs will be kept on stand-by. I inspected the counting hall, and the dispatch centre from where polling officials will be dispatched to the polling stations,” said the CEO.

The seat fell vacant after its MLA Raghav Chadha, of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), resigned and got elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab after his party stormed to power in that state.

An official said a total of six companies of central armed police forces will be deployed across the constituency and the strong room where EVMs will be kept after polling. Additionally, Delhi Police personnel and the home guards will also be deployed at polling booths for confidence building measures.

A total of 164,698 electors are expected to vote to choose their the new legislator from among the 14 candidates in the fray. As many as 899 voters are in the 18-19 age groups and will likely be exercising their franchise for the first time on Thursday. The polling will be held at 190 polling stations across 21 locations in the assembly segment.

Since polling is on a weekday, the poll panel is trying hard to ensure that the voter turnout is not low. “We have ensured ground mobilisation through which we are trying to educate people on the importance of voting and also encouraging those eligible to vote to do so on Thursday,” said the CEO.

Meanwhile, AAP leader Manish Sisodia campaigned for party candidate Durgesh Pathak in Old Rajinder Nagar area and claimed that unlike other parties and their leaders chief minister Arvind Kejriwal delivers more than double of what he promises.

Sisodia said people should use their vote as an opportunity to accelerate the development of Delhi by voting for the AAP candidate.

Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Adesh Gupta, MP Gautam Gambhir and Parvesh Sahib Singh and Hansraj Hans and other leaders campaigned for party candidate Rajesh Bhatia in New Rajinder Nagar where they undertook a door-to-door canvassing of votes to reach out to as many people as possible.