The Rajinder Nagar assembly constituency in the national capital today recorded a voter turnout of 43.75 per cent till 1800 hrs in the bypoll, officials said.

Polling for the by-election to the Rajinder Nagar assembly constituency in the national capital commenced this morning at 0700 hrs and continued till 1800 hrs.

Polling for the by-election to Rajinder Nagar assembly constituency in Delhi, which fell vacant after the local MLA Raghav Chadha of the Aam Aadmi Party was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, was held at 21 different locations across 190 polling stations in the area.

The AAP has won the seat in the last two successive elections — Vijendra Garg Vijay in 2015 and then Raghav Chadha in 2020.

The three key candidates in fray are– Durgesh Pathak from AAP, Rajesh Bhatia (BJP), and Prem Lata (Congress).

A total of 1,64,698 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the by-election, which included 92,221 male, 72,473 female and four third gender voters.

There were 591 disabled voters, 39 visually impaired and 64 service voters. There were 1,899 new voters.

Earlier in the day, AAP leader Chadha, who reached to cast his vote at around 9 a.m, said, “People here have given me a chance to serve my ‘karma and janm bhumi’ Rajinder Nagar for two years. It is my belief that in the time to come, people here will give opportunities to such people who would maintain the pace of work.”

He further expressed that he wants more good schools and Mohalla clinics to come up in the area. “People should vote for a corruption free government. It is summer as well as a working day, yet people should vote.”

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP President Adesh Gupta said, “My vote is my right… It is an appeal to the local voters to vote in this by-election for the development of their area, and to solve the problems of the constituency.”

Delhi Congress president Anil Chaudhary also had made a similar appeal and said, “I urge the voters to cast their valuable votes for better development of Rajinder Nagar, and resolving the problems of their constituency.”

Six companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) were deployed for the smooth conduct of the bypoll. It consisted of four men and two women forces. Apart from this, 308 Delhi police personnel and 177 home guards were also deployed.

The counting of votes for the Rajinder Nagar assembly constituency by-election will take place on June 26.