Indian capital votes in local elections

Voters in the Indian capital, New Delhi, have started casting their ballots in the state assembly elections widely considered as a test of popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

More than 13 million people are eligible to go to the polls at almost 12,000 polling stations to elect representatives to the city’s 70-seat legislative assembly.

Over 64,000 police personnel had been deployed across Delhi to ensure security in the elections involving 673 candidates.

The main contest is between the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has won a series of provincial elections in recent months, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Some opinion polls have given AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal a clear majority against the BJP candidate Kiran Bedi, a former senior police officer.

The official results of the elections are scheduled to be released on Tuesday.

In May 2014, the BJP won 274 seats in the 543-seat lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha. However, the ruling party lacks a majority in the Asian country’s upper house.