43.86 pc of women voters, 43.67 of male electorate exercise their franchise in Rajinder Nagar bypoll

New Delhi: Both men and women in the Rajinder Nagar assembly constituency were enthusiastic about exercising their franchise at the just-concluded bypolls with 43.67 per cent of the male electorate and 43.86 per cent of female voters turning up for the polling.

The percentage of third-gender voters stood at 50 per cent, a senior official told PTI on Friday.

Overall, the bypoll saw a low voter turnout of 43.75 per cent. This is significantly less than the figures recorded in the 2020 polls, when the voter turnout in Rajinder Nagar was 58.27 per cent -- 58.09 per cent male voters and 58.5 per cent female voters.

This was also the first electoral exercise in Delhi after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Twenty-four Covid-positive voters turned out to exercise their franchise in the bypoll, officials said.

Of the total eligible voters for the bypoll, 92,221 are male, 72,473 female and four belong to the third gender. Also, 1,899 voters in this assembly seat are in the 18-19 age group, according to data shared by the office of the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer.

A total of 190 polling stations, including 13 auxiliary ones, were set up at 21 locations. Very "minor snags" in EVMs were reported at a few booths and replacements were made accordingly, a senior official said.

A total of 1,64,698 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the bye-election, in which 14 candidates tried their luck, although it was largely being seen as a battle between a confident AAP and a spirited BJP.

Covid-positive voters were allowed to vote in the last one hour, after the regular voters had exercised their franchise, following all safety protocols, like masks and gloves.

The Rajinder Nagar bypoll turnout was even lower than the figures recorded in the Rajouri Garden bypoll (46.5 per cent) and Bawana bypoll 44.8 per cent), both held in 2017. In 2015 polls, the two Delhi assembly seats had registered a turnout of 72 per cent and 61.83 per cent respectively.

The bypoll was necessitated in the wake of AAP leader Raghav Chadha leaving the seat after being elected to the Rajya Sabha.

The counting of votes will take place on June 26.