Kejriwal’s “Special Appeal” To Women to Vote

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturdayasked the women of Delhi to come out in large numbers and vote in the assemblyelection today.

Kejriwal in a Tweet today said, "Definitely go andvote. A special appeal to all women, just as you take up the responsibility ofthe home, the responsibility of the nation and Delhi is with you. All of youwomen must go to vote and take the men in your families along with you. Discusswith men who it is who it right to vote for."

According to reports, over 1.47 crore voters facethe choice of re-electing Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or replacing it withthe BJP or Congress.

Kejriwal urges the women to come out in large numbers as it is the women's turnout which could be the make-or-break factor in deciding which party wins these elections. In the 2015 polls, in the top 20 constituencies with the highest turnout of women, the AAP won much more decisively than in the constituencies which had the lowest turnout of women.

The Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 years beforebeing decimated by the AAP, has led a relatively lacklustre campaign. Theparty's top leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have barelycampaigned for its candidates.

In the 2015 assembly polls, the AAP had won 54.3 percent of the vote, while the BJP got 32 percent and the Congress managed just 9.6 percent. While the AAP won 67 seats in 2015, since then the party has conceded one seat to the BJP in a bypoll and six of its lawmakers have been disqualified over joining other parties.