NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu cast her vote on Wednesday at Dr Rajendra Prasad Kendriya Vidyalaya, located in the President's Estate, as Delhi voted for its 8th Assembly.

Polling for all 70 assembly seats began early in the morning at 7:00 am and will continue until 6:00 pm. Tight security has been put in place to ensure smooth voting, officials said.

Delhi has over 1.56 crore registered voters. This includes 83.76 lakh male voters, 72.36 lakh female voters, and 1,267 voters from the third gender. Among them are 2.39 lakh first-time voters aged 18-19, 1.09 lakh senior citizens aged 85 and above, and 79,885 people with disabilities.

To maintain law and order, nearly 98,000 personnel and 8,715 volunteers have been deployed. Security forces include 220 companies from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), 19,000 Home Guards, and 35,626 Delhi Police officers.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is seeking a third consecutive term, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is pushing hard to regain power. The BJP’s campaign, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, focused on criticizing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over issues like Yamuna water pollution and alleged corruption. Meanwhile, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused AAP of harming Delhi’s infrastructure in their rallies.

A total of 699 candidates are contesting across the 70 constituencies in the national capital.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi encouraged Delhi residents to come out and vote. Taking to social media platform X, he said, “In today’s Delhi Assembly elections, votes will be cast for all seats. I urge the voters here to participate in this festival of democracy with full enthusiasm and make sure to cast their valuable vote.”

He also had a special message for first-time voters, saying, “I extend my special wishes to all the young friends who are voting for the first time. Remember—first vote, then refreshments!”