Delhi votes again
Voters were again back at polling stations across Delhi on Saturday over a year after they delivered a fractured mandate.
This time around, the BJP and the AAP have appealed for a majority vote. People slowly began turning up at polling booths in urban and rural areas as ballotting began at 8 a.m. for the 70-member Delhi assembly.
"It is out duty and responsibility to vote, so we are here to exercise our franchise," Rajendra Sharma, one of the early voters from east Delhi's Laxmi Nagar, told. Revathi Rao, a resident of Gulmohar Park in south Delhi, said that there were barely three people when she turned up to vote at the polling booth. However at a polling booth located in a government school in Pandav Nagar in east Delhi, voters queued even before voting started.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged the voters in Delhi to exercise their franchise in large numbers in the assembly polls. "As Delhi votes today (Saturday), urging voters to go out and vote in large numbers," the prime minister tweeted. "I particularly call upon my young friends to vote in record numbers," another tweet said. According to the Delhi election commission, 5.7 percent votes were polled till 9 a.m. The main electoral battle is between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), while the Congress is trying to retain its tally of eight seats.
BJP's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi said she is "looking forward to formation of a new Delhi". The BJP had last time won 31 seats. AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal tweeted Saturday, appealing to people to vote. AAP had won 28 seats in the 2013 election and went on to form the government in Delhi. They quit after 49 days in power. Congress leader Ajay Maken said he was confident about the performance of his party.
"We have confined ourselves in raising real issues. Unlike other parties we have not resorted to petty politics. Congress can deliver its promises in Delhi," he said. Over 13.3 million voters are eligible to cast their ballot in a contest that has 673 candidates. A total of 11,763 polling booths have been set up across Delhi.
Liveblog Updates:
A woman was killed and four other civilians were injured in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district as the Pakistan army intensified artillery fire across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, officials said, adding that a large number of houses have also been damaged in the cross-border shelling.
Reports state that a Pakistani shell struck the vehicle the woman was traveling in, resulting in her death. The woman was identified as Nargis Bashir, and some of her family members had boarded a vehicle to flee from the Razarwani village in Uri that was hit by the mortar and artillery shells from Pakistan.
In an attempt to educate and make people aware about the consequences of war amid Pakistan's continuous firing in the border states, the Delhi government did a mock drill to test air raid sirens installed at the Public Works Department (PWD) at ITO and asked people to not react out of panic.
District Magistrate (Central) G. Sudhakar also urged people to remain calm and not be alarmed when they hear the sirens.
At least twice, sirens sounded during the drill, which started at 3 pm.
PWD Minister Parvesh Verma said 40-50 more such sirens will be installed across the national capital, each of which will cover an area of 8 km.
Residents present in Rajouri along the Line of Control have started moving to safer areas after heavy cross-border shelling and attempted drone and missile attacks last night by Pakistan. All drone and missile attacks were intercepted and foiled by India's air defence system.
#WATCH | J&K | Residents of Rajouri living along the LOC have started moving to safer areas after heavy cross-border shelling and attempted drone and missile attacks last night by Pakistan.
— ANI (@ANI) May 9, 2025
All drone and missile attacks were intercepted by India's air defence system and foiled,… pic.twitter.com/XITK0CsejT
Pakistan has claimed that its Economic Affairs Division account on social media has been hacked and called the post where it appealed for more loans from the international community owing to losses from Operation Sindoor "fake."
In a post on X, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Fact Checker shared a picture of the post and mentioned that it was "fake." Additionally, it asserted that the account had undergone hacking.
A missile-like object is found deep inside the Dal Lake after loud explosions were heard on Saturday morning in Srinagar, which is a major tourist attraction. The defense ministry also confirms that Pakistan has intruded into Srinagar's airspace in a press release.
Since the early hours of Saturday morning (10th May), Srinagar has been rocked with multiple explosions, and now electricity is taken off in various places across Kashmir. The reason for this is yet to be determined, as reports indicate multiple places in Kashmir have lost power. The Indian Army released a statement after the press briefing, where they mentioned that they have attacked and neutralized multiple terrorist launchpads in a coordinated fire assault, razing them to cinders.