MCD polls witness 50% voting; AAP, BJP locked in war of words
NEW DELHI: A voter turnout of around 50% was recorded in the election to the 250 municipal wards in Delhi on Sunday, the run up to which saw a fierce contest, with the Aam Aadmi Party seeking to wrest control of the city’s civic body from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has ruled the municipal corporation for 15 years.
These were the first elections since the Union government decided to dissolve Delhi’s erstwhile municipal corporations for the northern, southern and eastern parts of the Capital, and reunified them into a single Municipal Corporation of Delhi, whittling down the number of wards from 272 to 250 in the process.
No major glitches in electronic voting machines were reported and the voting passed off peacefully with high security observed at the 3,360 critical booths in 493 locations, where more than 25,000 police personnel, nearly 13,000 home guards and 100 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed, officials said.
With these being first major elections after 2020 Delhi riots, every fourth booth was designated to be critical and heavy security was seen in parts of Northeast Delhi, Okhla-shaheen Bagh as well as parts of Chhatarpur, which recently saw a horrific murder.
There were reports that names of voters in North-east Delhi and some other areas were missing from the voters’ lists.
According to election commission data, a total of 1,349 candidates were in the fray. Polling was held from 8am to 5.30pm at 13,638 polling stations, and the votes will be counted on December 7.
The polls are crucial for the AAP and its leader Arvind Kejriwal as they seek expansion of the party ahead of 2024 general elections in the country.
A victory in the MCD polls will not only cement AAP’S place in Delhi but will fuel its aspiration to emerge as a serious contender to the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the national political landscape.
The BJP, which deployed its top leaders, including national president JP Nadda, 19 Union ministers including Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal and chief ministers of six states in the campaign, is seeking reelection.
While it controlled all three municipal bodies in the Capital for the last 15 years, the party received a drubbing in the 2020 Delhi Assembly polls, winning just eight of the 70 seats.
“People should vote for the party that is honest and works. (Vote) for those who focus on the cleanliness of the city and not those who keep creating hurdles,” Kejriwal told reporters after he cast his vote along with his parents, wife and children at a polling booth in Civil Lines.
Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta appeared confident of the party’s victory.
“In this election, the Bharatiya Janata Party is coming back to serve the people of Delhi for the fourth time with a clear majority. People have voted against the scams and false publicity of the Kejriwal government,” he said.
The Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 years but has faded away since its loss in 2013, is seeking to regain lost turf.