Campaigning for Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls (MCD elections) concluded on Friday when all the parties gave final push to their claim MCD.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is set for its first elections after three Delhi civic bodies were merged into one earlier this year. The voting will take place on Sunday and counting of votes will take place on Wednesday.
Campaigning for Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls (MCD elections) concluded on Friday when all the parties gave final push to their claim MCD.
Delhi is all set to vote in the MCD elections on Sunday. This will be the first time elections are being held after three Delhi civic bodies were merged into one MCD. This is also the first time any elections are being held in Delhi after the 2020 Northeast Delhi Riots. Counting of votes of Sunday's elections will take place on Wednesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking to retain its clout over MCD in the polls, whereas the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is looking forward to repeat the success of Delhi assembly elections in MCD and the Congress is looking forward to regain its turf over the years.
Over 1.45 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections to the 250 MCD wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
A total of 1,349 candidates are in the fray. The main contest is, however, between the BJP, AAP, and Congress.
Polling will be held from 8 am to 5:30 pm and the votes will be counted on December 7.
The total number of voters in Delhi is 1,45,05,358 — 78,93,418 males, 66,10,879 females, and 1,061 transgender persons, according to data shared by the State Election Commission (SEC) officials.
A total of 13,638 polling stations have been set up across Delhi for the exercise. Sixty-eight model polling stations and as many pink polling stations covering all eleven assembly segments, have been established for quality experience of voters, poll officials said.
With the announcement of the MCD polling date on November 4 by State Election Commissioner Vijay Dev, the Model Code of Conduct came into immediate effect in Delhi from that day itself.
MCD elections fall in the middle of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat assembly elections and votes will be counted one day before these two states' results.
Delhi's north, south, and east civic bodies were merged into one Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) earlier this year. Formally, the three civic bodies were called North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC).
Delhi used to have a unified MCD from 1958 to 2012 when the then-Congress government bifurcated it into three civic bodies.
With the unification, around 96 per cent of Delhi would be under MCD. Only two pockets of Delhi will be outside the purview of MCD. These bodies are the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) that primarily covers the Lutyens' Delhi and Delhi Cantonment Board that manages the Delhi Cantonment area.
Prior to the unification, there were 272 wards across the three civic bodies. Now the unified MCD has 250 wards. Of these 250 wards, 42 wards are reserved for scheduled castes (SCs) and 21 of these 42 wards are reserved for SC women. Overall, 104 wards are reserved for women.
Security has been beefed up in Delhi ahead of the voting on Sunday.
The State Election Commission (SEC) officials said poll authorities and its teams were all set for the big day on Sunday and adequate arrangements for deployment of forces has been done.
The SEC on Friday said it has made elaborate arrangements for safe, secure and pleasant voting experience of people. These measures are required to keep the electoral field free and to ensure that a level playing field is afforded to all political parties and candidates.
This is also the first civic polls being held in the national capital after the February 2020 riots in Delhi, and as per data shared by officials, 3360 booths, spanning 493 locations, have been identified in critical or sensitive categories.
For the MCD polls, "nearly 40,000 Delhi Police personnel, about 20,000 home guards and 108 companies of CAPF and SAP are to be deployed", a senior police official said.
The BJP, Congress, and AAP have made a slew of promises to Delhi voters in the run up to the MCD elections.
The BJP has promised affordable food at public eateries, free cycles to girls, chhath ghats, and cow shelters, among other promises to Delhi voters.
The Daily Pioneer reports other promises made by the BJP:
The Congress has promised RO water purifiers to poor, waiver of due house tax, and day-boarding at MCD-run schools. The Congress has also promised to resolve landfill issues in Delhi related to waste disposal.
The AAP in its manifesto also promised waste management and a solution to landfills. It also promised beautification of parks among other promises. ANI reported that AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also promised to make the MCD corruption-free and solve vehicle-parking problems.
Giving campaigns of their parties one final push on Friday, BJP leaders held over 200 public meetings and roadshows, while Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia held a town hall with 400 traders to discuss issues faced by them while dealing with the civic body.
In the civic election in 2017, the BJP had won 181 of the 270 wards. No polling could be held on two seats due to death of candidates. The AAP had won 48 wards and the Congress 27. In 2017 civic polls, the voting percentage was about 53.
(With PTI inputs)