New Delhi, May 25 (UNI) Long queues of enthusiastic voters were seen outside all polling booths in the national capital on Saturday as Delhi's seven parliamentary seats went to the hustings in the sixth and penultimate phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Beating the heat, voters across the capital made beeline for early morning attempts to cast their votes for 162 candidates.
The ruling BJP, which struck 100 per cent in the national capital in the 2014 and 2019 national polls, is up against the AAP and the Congress of the INDIA bloc this time.
Under the opposition's seat-sharing agreement for Delhi, the AAP is contesting four seats, while the Congress has fielded candidates on the remaining three seats.
Delhi's parliamentary seats are: Chandni Chowk, North East Delhi, East Delhi, New Delhi, North West Delhi, West Delhi, and South Delhi.
AAP MLA Somnath Bharti is up against BJP’s Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of the late Sushma Swaraj. She is counting on her mother's legacy, while Bharti banks on AAP’s local governance appeal.
Congress’ Kanhaiya Kumar is contesting against two-time MP Manoj Tiwari from the North East Delhi. Both hail from Bihar and eye a major chunk of Purvanchali votes to steer ahead.
In East Delhi, the BJP dropped sitting MP Gautam Gambhir after he requested BJP national president JP Nadda to relieve him of political duties as he wanted to focus on his cricket commitments.
The saffron party has fielded Harsh Malhotra, a lawyer, against AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar, the sitting MLA from the Kondli assembly constituency.
Following mock drills ahead of the polling process, voters began registering their choices on the EVMs across booths, with key contestants like BJP's Bansuri Swaraj offering prayers at Jhandewalan temple ahead of polling.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, his wife also cast their votes among the early birds in the national capital.
The polling will conclude by 6 pm.
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