Delhi elections: Sonia votes, hopes for fourth term for Dikshit

New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday cast her vote in the Delhi Assembly election in which her party is eyeing a fourth consecutive victory. Gandhi was accompanied by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to the polling station in Nirman Bhavan at around 10 am. [caption id=“attachment_1265741” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Congress President Sonia Gandhi after casting her vote. Firstpost/Naresh Sharma[/caption] She is a voter in the New Delhi constituency from where Dikshit is contesting. The other two prominent contestants in the constituency are Aam Admi Party Chief Arvind Kejriwal and former Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta. Kejriwal voted at polling booth no 47 at Hanuman Road at around 8:15 am. “People of Delhi will win and corruption will be defeated in the election,” he told reporters. Vice President Hamid Ansari and Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev were among the first few to cast their votes. The Chief Electoral Officer hoped that people will vote in large number to create a new record. “I am confident that people of Delhi will create a new record of polling. There has been huge enthusiasm among the people about the election,” he said. In 2008 assembly polls, the overall voting percentage was 57.58 percent. Ansari reached New Delhi constituency’s polling booth no 8586 at Nirman Bhavan at around 8:10 am while Dev exercised his franchise at 8 am at polling booth no 47 at Hanuman Road. Dikshit has been representing the constituency for the last 15 years and her development model will face a tough test in the area which comprises over 1.18 lakh voters, 60 percent of whom are government employees and their families. A recent opinion poll had predicted that Kejriwal may humble Dikshit in the constituency but she strongly debunked the survey result, questioning its credibility. Maneka Gandhi exercised her franchise at the booth a little after Sonia voted. PTI