NEW DELHI: The by-election for one seat in Delhi’s North Delhi area, Bawana saw a low voter turnout of around 45 percent of the 2.94 lakh eligible voters on Wednesday.
For the first time the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were used at all the 379 polling stations in the constituency the state election commission informed. The seat which is reserved for scheduled caste category saw a heavy weight campaigning from the Aam Aadmi Party which is in power in Delhi and the Bhartiya Janata Party holding the reigns of the Central government.
Delhi’s Environment minister Imran Hussain has been booked for allegedly "issuing" pamphlets with his and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s picture seeking votes in the name of religion. Hussain has termed this as a conspiracy in order malign his image.
According to the police, the FIR filed under the relevant sections of the Representation of the People Act filed by the Delhi police which mentions Hussain’s name was based on the complaint filed by the returning officer of the Bawana bypoll.
Rival party BJP raised the issue with election commission in a delegation led by state president Manoj Tiwari and demanded action against the AAP requesting the commission to de-recognise the party.
"The delegation demanded action against Hussain for seeking votes in the name of religion," said the leader of opposition in Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta.
The AAP fielded Ram Chandra, Ved Prakash a former AAP member who joined the BJP before which he resigned from as AAP MLA is representing the BJP and Surendra Kumar was the face of Congress party in the elections held today for which the results will be declared on 28th August.