Union minister Smriti Irani slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday morning for his tweet wherein he asked women in Delhi to discuss with men in their families whom they should vote for in the Delhi assembly elections.

Voting for the Delhi Assembly elections started at 8am today morning.

Nine minutes before the voting began, Arvind Kejriwal in a tweet asked Delhi's women voters to come out in large numbers and vote.

However, towards the end of his tweet he wrote: "Purushon se charcha jaroor karen ki kise vote dena sahi rahega (Do consult with men whom it would be better to vote for)."

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Here is the full text of Arvind Kejriwal's tweet in Hindi:

"Vote daalne jaroor jaiye. Sabhi mahilaon se khas appeal...jaise aap ghar ki jimmedari uthati hain, vaise hi mulk aur Dilli ki jimmedari bhi aapke kandhon par hai. Aap sabhi mahilayain vote daalne jaroor jayain aur apne ghar ke purushon ko bhi le jayain. Purushon se charcha jaroor karain ki kise vote dena sahi hoga."

(Translation: Please go out and vote today. I specially appeal to the women that just as you uphold responsibilities of your house, you also have to shoulder responsibilities of the country and Delhi. The women must go out and vote and please take the men in your house alongwith you to vote. Please do discuss with men whom it would be better to vote for.)

Responding to this tweet, Smriti Irani in a tweet wrote: "Aap kya mahilaon ko itna saksham nahi samjahte ki ve swayam nirdharit kar saken kise vote dena hai? (Don't you consider women capable enough to decide on their own whom they should vote for?)"

Later in the day, Arvind Kejriwal responded to Smriti Irani and tweeted that the women of Delhi have already decided whom to vote for.

"This time, it is women who have decide their family's vote in Delhi," he said in a tweet.

Voting for all 70 assembly constituencies is being held today. The BJP, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress are the main parties in Delhi's electoral battle. In the 2015 Delhi assembly election, AAP won 67 of the 70 seats, while the BJP won three seats.

However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, the Congress came second in all seats and AAP a distant third.

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