50% turnout in MCD polls as both BJP, AAP claim victory
Polling peaceful, no glitches with EVMs Many voters’ names missing
After a high-decibel campaign that generated a lot of heat over civic and national issues, only 50.47 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Sunday in Delhi to elect 250 municipal councillors of a reunified corporation that has been reeling under severe financial crunch for the past several years.
In the high-stakes polls for greater control in the national capital, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party left no stone unturned to wrest power from the BJP, which is eyeing its fourth consecutive tenure at the civic body. The Congress, which has suffered a back-to-back drubbing in the national capital since 2014 in parliamentary, Assembly and municipal polls, also tried hard to win back some ground.
The voter turnout was low in the morning hours. It went up to 18 per cent at 12.30 pm and rose further to 30 per cent by 2.30 pm. In all, about 50.47 per cent -- male 51.02 per cent and female 49.82 per cent -- of over 1.45-crore voters exercised their franchise. The highest polling percentage of 65.74 per cent was recorded in Bakhtawarpur, whereas the lowest polling percentage of 33.74 per cent recorded in Andrews Ganj. The counting will take place on Wednesday.
The main rivals, the BJP and the AAP, have already claimed victory in the keenly contested elections. Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta asserted that the BJP is returning to power with a clear majority in the MCD for the fourth time in a row. “People have voted against the scams and false publicity of the Kejriwal government,” he said.
Disputing the BJP’s claim, AAP MLA Dilip Pandey said that people are going to punish the BJP for its 15 years of MCD misrule and that the voters this time will bring
THE CONGRESS, which has suffered a back-to-back drubbing in the national capital since 2014 in parliamentary, Assembly and municipal polls, also tried hard to win back some ground
in AAP for better administration of the civic agency.
Despite being one of the most important elections that directly impacts the administration of basic services to the residents, the voter turnout in the MCD polls has traditionally stayed lower than the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. In the last three MCD elections held in 2007, 2012 and 2017, Delhi recorded a turnout of 53.55 per cent, 53.39 per cent and 43.24 per cent respectively.
There were no major glitches reported in electronic voting machines on Sunday and the voting passed off peacefully with high security observed at the 3,360 critical booths in 493 locations where more than 25,000 Delhi police personnel, nearly 13,000 home guards and 100 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed.
Several people in northeast Delhi and some other areas, however, complained that their names were missing from the voters’ list. Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar was among those who could not vote. The BJP said it has filed a complaint with the state election commission over the missing names.
The polling stations in Bawana’s Katewara village wore a deserted look as its residents boycotted
the elections, alleging negligence from the civic body. “The whole village unanimously decided to boycott the elections. The civic body as well as the Delhi government have always neglected people, so why should we cast our votes?” a resident of the village said. As a result, no one turned up at the polling booths in Nangal Thakran ward of Bawana Assembly constituency. Mr Kejriwal, along with his parents, wife and children also cast his vote at Civil Lines. After exiting the polling booth holding the hands of his parents, he appealed to the public to vote for a party that works for people rather than creating hurdles. “People should vote for the party that’s honest and works. For those who focus on cleanliness of the city and not those who keep creating hurdles.”
The high-stakes polls also saw the BJP and the AAP accusing each other of violating the model code of conduct during voting. Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor alleged that recorded messages of Mr Kejriwal appealing to people to vote for the AAP were received by lakhs of people on the day of polling. He said it was a violation of the model code of conduct and lodged a complaint with the state election commission.
The party also lodged a complaint against AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak and another party leader Vijendra Garg. In a complaint, Delhi BJP’s legal cell co-convener Sanket Gupta cited a viral social media video of the two AAP leaders allegedly campaigning. The party demanded the poll body to direct the police to register an FIR against Mr
Pathak and Mr Garg. AAP candidate from Pushp Vihar in south Delhi Arun Nawariya alleged the BJP workers distributed money to influence voters. A police officer said that the SHO of Ambedkar Nagar police station checked the complaint by visiting the place referred to by the AAP candidate. He said that one person was found there but he was not a worker of any party and the enquiry revealed that the complaint was bogus.
This is the first election after the Centre unified three separate civic bodies in May. After the unification, the total number of wards in Delhi was reduced from 272 to 250. The unified MCD was trifurcated by the Sheila Dikshit government in 2012.
In the first election after trifurcation, the BJP had emerged victorious on 138 seats with 36.74 per cent votes and the Congress had won in 77 wards, polling 30.54 per cent votes.
The 2017 municipal election again saw the BJP walk away with 181 of the 272 wards, while the debutant AAP and the Congress were a distant second and third with 48 and 30 seats, respectively. In terms of vote share, the BJP polled 36.8 per cent, the AAP 26.23 per cent and the Congress 21.09 per cent.