A day after voting for the election to the Delhi Assembly concluded, the Election Commission on Sunday revealed that 62.59% of the electorate in the national capital exercised their franchise to elect the new government.
In a press conference, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh said that it took them a while to collect and compile data from all assembly segments, adding the voter turnout was 2% more than the Lok Sabha elections 2019.
"The highest voter turnout was recorded in Ballimaran assembly constituency at 71.6 per cent while the lowest voter turnout was recorded in Delhi Cantonment at 45.4 per cent," Singh said.
Responding to questions on the delay in releasing numbers, offcials said the commission usually reveals official figures a day after voting and therefore "we aren't late."
Singh also said the counting of voting will begin at 8 AM on Tuesday.
The EC numbers come after AAP expressed displeasure over the delay and asked what was taking so long for the poll body to reveal the numbers. Even social media was abuzz with similar questions, with many saying it was the first time that the final turnout hadn't been revealed despite the conclusion of voting a day ago.
In a tweet, earlier in the day, the incumbent Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal, described the situation as "absolutely shocking".
"What is EC doing? Why are they not releasing poll turnout figures, several hours after polling?" he wrote further.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh, too, in a press conference, said that "something is wrong, some game is on."
"This is probably the first time in the history of India. Even when the country votes for the general elections, the final turnout is told the same day," Singh said.
"The entire media, the entire Delhi and all of us have been waiting for the EC to tell us the exact voting percentage, but this is the first time in 70 years that poll body isn't prepared to tell us the final turnout.
"Delhi has just 70 constituencies. How much time would it take to do the calculations."
On Saturday, according to the Election Commission's Voter Turnout app, the voting percentage was 61.67 per cent at 10.26 pm, news agencies reported.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal-led AAP is all set to return to power despite the BJP running an aggressive and controversial campaign, all exit poll surveys indicated on Saturday night.
The India Today-Axis My India exit poll results have predicted a near repeat of AAP's 2015 performance, giving them 59-68 seats, followed by the saffron party, which is expected to win in the range of 2-11 seats. Congress' poor show is expected to continue despite ruling the city for 15 years before Kejriwal deposed the Sheila Dikshit government.
The India Today-Axis My India exit poll has developed a reputation for getting its predictions accurate, starting with the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in which they projected the BJP to win over 300 seats on its own.
