Delhi’s affluent neighbourhoods on Saturday were abuzz with discussions ranging from nationalism to local issues such as parking, sealing and water supply, even as the voter turnout in these pockets hovered at around 45%, as per provisional figures provided by the election commission — the lowest among districts representing different social strata in the national Capital.

Several working class and middle-class neighbourhoods such as Babarpur and Sadar Bazar had recorded voter turnouts of over 60% at 7.30pm. Last year, the New Delhi constituency had recorded a turnout of 65%.

The voter turnout in upscale and middle class constituencies such as New Delhi, Kasturba Nagar, Greater Kailash, Rajendra Nagar, RK Puram and Patel Nagar, all of which fall in the New Delhi parliamentary constituency, picked up only during the later half of the day.

For many traders in these neighbourhoods, including assembly segments such as Tilak Nagar and Rajouri Garden, the sealing drive against commercial establishments was a key factor while choosing the candidate. Thousands of shops have been sealed across Delhi over the past two-and-a-half years for running commercial activities in violation of land use. While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Centre for not bringing an ordinance in Parliament with which it claims the issue can be put to rest, the BJP attacked the AAP for not notifying over 300 roads along which many of these shops have emerged.

“My husband’s shop in Meharchand Market has been sealed. We have had discussion with all the candidates from the AAP, the BJP and the Congress. We have voted for the candidate who has given us the most feasible and realistic assurance of getting our shop opened,” said Kanika Kapoor, 36, a resident of A-Block in East of Kailash.

For several others, the deciding factors were “progress of the country”, “nationalism” and “Hinduism”. Some related it to the ongoing protests against the citizenship law at Shaheen Bagh. “National security and welfare is paramount for me and I have given my vote keeping this in mind. Shaheen Bagh protest is a complete farce,” said Manish Sankla, 22, a resident of Tilak Nagar.

Ramesh Sarin,88, from Civil Lines, who had come with her husband, said water and electricity are “small issues”. “If we don’t get clean water, we can install an RO. If we do not have electricity, we have an inverter. However, the focus should be on the issues of larger national importance and not on the state issues,” she said as her husband nodded in agreement.

But many voters talked about how issues such as education, health care, electricity and water did matter to them even if they were not availing any of the schemes offered by the AAP government in the past five years.

Bella Chowdhury, a 60-year-old resident of Defence Colony, said the Delhi government schemes have been “helpful for the poor people” who could not have afforded quality education or health services.

“Now there are several mohalla clinics in the area. Even if we are not benefitting by the free schemes, people working in my house and at other households in the area are availing the services. When we came to vote in this school in 2015, the toilets were dirty. But now the toilets are better and even the classrooms have high tech gadgets, which would never give a sense that it is a government school,” she said.

Ashwani Goel, 38, a resident of Rajouri Garden, said he voted for the development of the city. “I kept in mind issues such as sanitation, electricity, potable water and health care facilities while voting. It is an election where, for me, local issues are more important than the national ones,” he said.

In the New Delhi constituency, from where chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal is seeking a re-election, there was a stark contrast between the talking points of the affluent neighbourhoods and the residents of the government quarters.

“All of us are worried by unemployment. We have children sitting at home despite having qualifications such as MBAs and masters’ degree. They take private jobs which merely last a few months or a year. We want the winning party to create more jobs. In the Delhi government itself more than 20,000 posts are lying vacant,” said Sanjay Devi, a resident of Valmiki Colony in New Delhi.