Bawana bypoll: Over 2.94 lakh electors, 8 candidates in fray

New Delhi: Over 2.94 lakh electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the upcoming Bawana Assembly bypoll in Delhi in which EVMs equipped with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) would be used at all polling stations.

The election is scheduled to be held on August 23 and the counting will take place on August 28.

"Out of 2,94,589 electors, 4,102 fall in the age group of 18-19. The number of male, female and third gender electors are — 1,64,114, 1,30,143 and 25 respectively. The average number of voters per polling station stands at 776," the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Delhi said on Friday.

In a statement, the CEO Office also said the bypoll would be carried out through 379 polling stations.

Eight candidates are in the fray for the by-election that has been necessitated after the seat, reserved for the Scheduled Caste category, fell vacant in March post the resignation of sitting legislator Ved Prakash.

Prakash, who had won the seat on an AAP ticket, had also resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the BJP. He is now the candidate of the saffron party for the bypoll.

The AAP has named Ramchandra as its candidate while the Congress has fielded Surendra Kumar, a former three-time MLA from Bawana, who presently holds the post of Congress district President.

All three parties are eyeing a victory, more so for the AAP, after it suffered defeat in the Punjab polls and a severe drubbing in the Rajouri Garden bypoll and the MCD elections.

"VVPAT is being used for the first time in any election held in AC-07 (Bawana). EVM (Ballot Unit + Control Unit) along with VVPAT will be used at each polling station," the CEO Office said in the statement.

Out of 379 polling stations, 311 of them have less than 1,000 registered electors while 68 have more than 1,000 registered electors, it said.

About the action taken in the run up to the bypoll, the CEO Office said, 8,019 bottles of country-made liquor and 3,972 bottles of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) have been seized. Twenty-four FIRs have been registered and 19 persons arrested.

"Sixty-four licensed arms have been deposited and five unlicensed arms have been seized. Two FIRs have been registered under the Arms Act and four persons have been arrested," it added.

The total number of eligible electors in 2015 Delhi Assembly polls stood at 3,03,108.

The overall polling percentage for Delhi in Assembly elections in 2013 and 2015, was 65.63 per cent and 67.12 per cent respectively. The corresponding polling percentage in Bawana constituency had stood at 61.14 and 61.83 per cent respectively.

The AAP has a mammoth majority of 66 MLAs in the 70-member Assembly, with the rest four legislators belonging to the BJP.