Poll Briefs

Faulty EVMsAt a few polling booths in Chandni Chowk, voters got infuriated with the EVMs not functioning during the first two hours of the v...

Faulty EVMs
At a few polling booths in Chandni Chowk, voters got infuriated with the EVMs not functioning during the first two hours of the voting. So in the evening party workers tried persuading polling officers to extend the time, but in vain. A large number of workers complained that despite family engagements many voters had come to cast their vote in the evening but had to return disappointed.

Winning, I8217;m sure
Despite the uncertainty about the numbers in the elections, Delhi8217;s Urban Development Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan went about in his Mangolpuri constituency confidently declaring that he will win with a margin of 40,000 votes. 8220;You can come and verify the figure on the counting day. I am very sure I will be vindicated,8221; the three-time MLA said.

Ad fad
Despite the Election Commission rule that there should be no campaigning 48 hours before the polls, newspapers have been full of ads about the Mumbai attacks. Urdu papers, meanwhile, have been splashed with ads by little known organisations, claiming to reveal the 8220;real face8221; of Mayawati. Pictures of Mayawati with BJP leaders, questions on what she was doing with Narendra Modi, campaigning for him after the 2002 polls, have been prominently placed in Urdu dailies.

Reacting to ads
Asked about the Congress advertisements on Saturday8217;s paper which bought up issues like Kandahar, Parliament attack and the Red Fort attack, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said: 8220;The ads are a response to the ads given by the BJP yesterday. Unlike the BJP though, our ads are not a plea for votes.8221; Son Sandeep Dikshit added: 8220;Nobody is going to praise us for our dignity if we lose on the 8th, we had to make a response to BJP8217;s blood splattered ad.8221;

All in the family
Brothers Raj Singh and Vijendar Singh are contesting against each other in Nangloi. For the past two weeks they were busy campaigning against each other. And on the poll day, Raj Singh8217;s wife Shiv Kaur and Vijendar8217;s wife Kalavati sat as polling agents in the BJP and the Congress desks at the main booth. Those in the good books of both the brothers had a tough time to deciding who to vote for.

Seeing is believing
18-yr-old Mohammad Imran, who cast his vote in the Shaheen Bagh area of Okhla, said he had no issues that bothered him about the contestants. A first-time voter, he said, 8220;I think it is the visibility of the candidate that matters the most; if the candidate is seen working with the common people he deserves a chance.8221;

P C Jain

Age:84 years.

Constituency:

Tilak Nagar

Jain came to the booth without his voter ID and photo ID card and the polling officer did not allow him to vote. 8220;I am physically present, what more do they need? I am an old man and I do not know if I will be alive to vote in the next election.8221; With little money in his pocket, Jain had to borrow from the voting staff and policemen on duty to go home and get his identity card.