Forty percent voters have cast their votes till 1 pm for seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. Polling which began on a slow note picked up after first two hours of polling and is progressing steadily.

Vice President Hamid Ansari, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, Union Minister Kapil Sibal, Congress' Ajay Maken, Delhi BJP Chief Harsh Vardhan were among those who cast their votes in the early hours of polling.

Talking to media after casting his vote, Kejriwal said Congress has already conceded its defeat while BJP's Narendra Modi is thinking that he has become the Prime Minister.

Ajay Maken, who is contesting from prestigious New Delhi constituency, exuded confidence of regaining support of the Congress votebank.

150 candidates including 58 independents are in the fray. Nearly 50,000 security personnel, apart from 161 flying squads of police and video surveillance teams have been deployed as part of arrangements to ensure fair and peaceful polls.

Election Commission's directive not to allow mobile phones inside polling booths is causing inconvenience to voters with security personnel dealing with a heavy hand. There is no provision for depositing the cell phones in a safe custody outside the polling booths.