Shedding its reputation for voter’s apathy, the national capital this time broke all records. The voter turnout in this crucial assembly elections was a record 67% (the precise figures being worked out), breaking its previous record of 61.75% turnout in its first assembly elections of 1993.

Though polling was officially over by 5 pm, there were long queues outside many polling stations. Voter enthusiasm also led the election commission (EC) to delay the closure of some booths by three and a half hours in an unprecedented step. It announced that voting would continue till the last person to have queued up at the booth in time had exercised their franchise.

Around 67 percent of Delhi's 1.19 crore electors voted to elect a new 70-member assembly from 810 candidates. The voter turnout was up by 15 percent from the last assembly elections.

Apart from the overall trend of increasing turnouts, a local factor too might have contributed to pushing more and more voters to the booths: this was the first time Delhi witnessed a triangular fight. Apart from the two traditional heavyweights, the Congress and BJP, the new entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of Arvind Kejriwal too contributed to a heightened campaigning this time.

AAP’s aggressive and innovative campaign strategy is also believed to be mainly responsible for the high turnout. The number of voters increased and so has the number of contenders. This had forced parties to do more aggressive door-to-door campaigning, initially started by Kejriwal.

Run-up to 2014 elections
While the all-time high turnout could spell trouble for Sheila Dikshit, who was seeking a historic fourth term, it can also be threatening for the UPA government. Many see the high percentage of polling as vote against the ruling party.

BJP, however, is viewing the big turnout as a vote for change and is expecting to come back in power. But the entire anti-incumbency vote may not come its way as AAP has turned out as a strong contender for both the major parties.

Seen as a run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, the outcome of the Delhi assembly elections will surely impact political equations at the national level. All seven MPs from the city-state are of the Congress but the tally is bound to change.

Highest poll code violations recorded
The Delhi elections this time saw not just the highest voter turnout but also the highest number of violations of the model code of conduct (MCC). A total of 42,000 litres of liquor worth more than Rs 1 crore was seized while cash totaling Rs 1.64 crore, allegedly meant for distribution among voters to lure them, was recovered from various constituencies.

The state election commission also detected 21 cases of paid news out of 80 complaints it received. More than 346 FIRs were also registered against various political parties for various offences. The most, 105, were registered against the debutant AAP, while 88 FIRs were filed against Congress and 86 against BJP.

The number of licenced arms deposited/impounded and cancelled stood at 1680 this time as against 382 in 2008. Although no incident related to poll rivalry was reported this time as against 2008′s three.