Sonia and Rahul Gandhi Among Early Voters as Delhi Goes to Polls

As the polling began for the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son, MP Rahul Gandhi, were among the early voters. Voting commenced at 7 am across the national capital’s constituencies: Chandni Chowk, North East Delhi, East Delhi, New Delhi, North West Delhi, West Delhi, and South Delhi.

After casting their votes, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by their security personnel, took a moment to click a selfie outside their polling booth at Nirman Bhawan. Rahul Gandhi shared the photo on his official X account, showcasing their inked fingers. He wrote in Hindi, “Mother and I contributed to this great festival of democracy by casting our votes. All of you also come out of your homes in large numbers and vote for your rights and the future of your family.”

Rahul’s sister and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also participated in the electoral process, casting her vote at a different polling station in Delhi. Expressing optimism, she stated that the Opposition INDIA bloc “will win” in the elections.

The early morning turnout featured several prominent figures, including Union ministers S. Jaishankar and Hardeep Singh Puri, Delhi Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi, and outgoing East Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Gautam Gambhir. President Droupadi Murmu also cast her vote in the New Delhi constituency. Additionally, Bansuri Swaraj, the BJP’s New Delhi nominee and daughter of the late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, was among the early voters.

Approximately 1.52 crore voters, including 82 lakh men, 69 lakh women, and 1,228 from the third gender category, are eligible to vote at over 13,000 polling booths across Delhi’s seven constituencies. Despite the intense heat, voting will continue until 6 pm.

In the past two general elections, the BJP secured all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and is aiming for another clean sweep this time. The party has fielded Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi, the only sitting MP to be renominated, along with Ramvir Singh Bidhuri from South Delhi, Bansuri Swaraj from New Delhi, Harsh Deep Malhotra from East Delhi, Yogendra Chandolia from North West Delhi, Praveen Khandelwal from Chandni Chowk, and Kamaljeet Sehrawat from West Delhi.

The opposition INDIA bloc, comprising AAP and Congress, is contesting the elections in Delhi under a four-three seat-sharing arrangement. This marks the first Lok Sabha election in which AAP and Congress have fielded joint candidates. AAP’s candidates include Kuldeep Kumar from East Delhi, Mahabal Mishra from West Delhi, Somnath Bharti from New Delhi, and Pahalwan from South Delhi. Congress has nominated JP Agarwal for Chandni Chowk, Kanhaiya Kumar for North East Delhi, and Udit Raj for North West Delhi.

This phase of the Lok Sabha elections is also underway in 51 seats across seven states, including eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, 10 in Haryana, four in Jharkhand, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, and the Anantnag-Rajouri seat in Jammu and Kashmir, which was rescheduled from the third phase.

By the end of today’s voting, elections will be completed in 486 out of 543 Lok Sabha seats, bringing the nation closer to determining its next government.

Also read: Priyanka Gandhi Highlights Key Issues as Voting Underway in Delhi’s Sixth Phase