3rd LD Writethru: Indians vote in high stake local polling in capital

Hundreds of thousands of Indians voted in the capital Saturday for the local legislature in what is described as a high stake polling in a generally peaceful atmosphere.

The voters' turnout rate stood at 35 percent by 13:00 p.m. local time as balloting was initially slow in many middle and upper middle class areas, in contrast with polling stations in low income localities which witnessed crowds.

Among the early voters were former Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal and BJP's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi, besides Congress leader Ajay Maken and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters to exercise their franchise in large numbers. "I particularly call upon my young friends to vote in record numbers," he twitted.

The BJP is calling on people to vote for a "clean, literate and safe Delhi," echoing Modi's campaign for cleanness, literacy and safety.

"Today is a historic day for Delhiites. It's the day for them to decide what type of Delhi they want," said Bedi, who is also the country's first woman police officer chosen by Modi to lead the BJP charge in the capital.

Analysts say the Delhi battle is mainly between the BJP and the AAP after the Congress ended its long time rule in the capital in 2013.

The elections came a year after Kejriwal resigned in the wake of being the chief minister for 49 days. His anti-graft party won 28 seats out of 70 in its election debut in 2013.

There were 673 candidates competing in 11,763 voting centers, mostly in schools. Endi