New Delhi, Feb 7
Young Delhi Saturday came out in huge numbers to vote for a "stable and corruption-free government" that would bring about "religious harmony" and address issues like "women's safety" that are plaguing the city.

Within moments of casting their ballots, these young voters shared their excitement on social networking platforms like Twitter and Facebook and also did their bit to urge fellow-citizens to cast their votes.

"(I) exercised my right to vote! Vote for change, vote for progress," Sakshi Chand, a first time voter from Paschim Vihar said on Twitter.

On Twitter, apart from selfies, the top five trending hashtags included #DelhiVotes, #PressJhaaduButton, #VoteDelhiVote, #Vote4MufflerMan and #IvoteSelfie.

Delhi, which has been under president's rule for over a year now, was last
governed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for 49 days - and to "break this jinx" the
voter turnout was huge with equal participation from different age-groups from across the city.

Expressing his excitement, Nikhil Anand, a 22-year-old Merchant Navy officer, told
IANS: "Development was the first priority while casting my vote. I want a stable
government, good governance and the issue of women safety to be addressed."

"I want that the representative of my area must work for the development," he added.

However, following the many incidents of communal tension and attacks on places of worship, issues like "religious harmony" came first for many young voters like Srimanjari Basu.

"I made sure that I'd vote this time because I wanted to raise my voice against those who, in my view, are doing nothing to stop the spread of communalism in this country and are keeping silent about increasing attacks on places of worship of minority communities, especially churches," the 21-year-old Basu told IANS.

Voters proudly flaunted the indelible ink mark on social networking sites as proof of exercising their democratic right.

While some shared details of which party they voted for, many chose to urge the people to vote for better civic amenities like good roads.

"I don't care who comes to power. It is high time the national capital becomes a world-class city," Rajat Thakur said.

arun Kohli tweeted: "Go Delhi, go out and vote for development! You won't get this chance again for next 5 years."

Security, inflation major issues for women voters

Security of women and rising prices of essential commodities topped the agenda of women voters who exercised their franchise in the Delhi assembly polls Saturday.

"My vote is for the party that can protect the city's women and stop the nuisance of harassment and even molestation in public places," 26-year-old Pria Bajaj, a resident of Mukherjee Nagar in north Delhi, told IANS.

Bajaj said she wished for a leader who can instil fear in the minds of those who dare to misbehave with girls and women and forces the city's police personnel to
pull up their socks.

Lalita Mehra, a 54-year-old homemaker from Mayur Vihar Phase II in east Delhi, told IANS: "I voted for the party which I believe can curb inflation and bring down the prices of commodities, especially vegetables. Its high time parties start thinking about the city's middle class population.”

A total of 63 women candidates are in fray in these polls.

Despite being more than vocal about women related issues, the three major parties - the BJP, AAP and Congress - have fielded only eight, six and five candidates respectively.

For Santosh Malik, 83, of B.K. Dutt Colony in New Delhi assembly constituency, it was important that the voice of the women is heard by the government.

"I want a government which hears the voice of everybody, specially women, as they are the most suppressed," Malik told IANS.

Inflation was the biggest issue for 35-year old Lata Devi of Ballimaran in central Delhi.

"No party considers inflation and just makes fake assurances. I have voted for the party who I think will bring it down and I am confident that it will come to
power," Lata Devi told IANS.

She said the prices of most food items have been going up relentlessly.

Shweta Arora, a marketing executive, added that while staples like wheat flour and rice have become marginally costlier, prices of pulses like masoor and arhar have soared by up to 30 percent.

"Barring a few exceptions, prices of vegetables and fruits have shot up by 20 to 50 percent, and for popular winter fare like peas and leafy vegetables, by nearly 100 percent," Arora told IANS.

College student Ankita Sharma of Gole Market, a first time voter, said she wanted a strong government that will take youth along in the development process and
provide security to women.

"I have voted for the party which is actually talking about the issues of youth," Sharma, who said she voted for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), told IANS.

Anasuya Gupta, a businesswoman in South Delhi, said she voted with the expectation of having "a stable, responsible and viable government" that would "provide
safety, security and sanity in Delhi" and make it easy to carry out business in the capital.

Kiran Saxena, 63, a retired government official, told IANS: "The issues on my mind are cleaniness, security and women's safety and price rise, of course. Prices of
fruits and vegetables have only risen".

Saxena, however, added that the elections this time could have been avoided. "We could have saved this exercise and a lot of money is wasted organizing this whole exercise.”

Delhi has 13.3 million voters, of whom 5.9 million are women. The counting process will be on Feb 10.