Around 45 per cent voter turn out was witnessed in Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls (MCD elections) on Sunday by 4 pm. The voting was marred by complaints over mismanagement of polling stations and exclusion of names from voter lists.
The duration of voting is 8 am-5:30 pm. In last MCD elections in 2017, the final voter turnout was 57 per cent. The counting of votes will take place on Wednesday.
"The polling till 2 pm is around 30 per cent for all 250 wards in Delhi. The process is going on smoothly in all the wards. No untoward incident has been reported so far," said a senior official of the State Election Commission (SEC).
Delhi has around 1.45 crore eligible voters and the MCD elections have a total of 1,349 candidates in fray.
Authorities have set up 13,638 polling stations across Delhi. According to the data, 3,360 booths in 493 locations have been identified as "critical" or "sensitive". Sixty-eight model polling stations and as many pink booths covering all assembly segments in the city have been established, poll officials said.
BJP, Congress raise exclusion of names from voter lists
Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress have raised the issue of names missing from voter lists. While the BJP raised a complaint to the SEC, the Congress blamed the BJP for exclusion.
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari alleged that the names of several hundred voters were deleted in Mauj Pur and Yamuna Vihar areas in his North East Delhi constituency at the behest of the ruling AAP.
"I have talked to State Election Commissioner and lodged a complaint with him. We will seek cancellation of the polls here if needed," Tiwari told reporters at a Maujpur ward, adding that he will also explore legal options.
Delhi Congress chief and ex-MLA Anil Chaudhary was also not named in the voter list. He claimed “lakhs of people” have been removed from the voters' list by the BJP to “delay its defeat”.
Complaints from common people
Flipping through the list of voters at a polling station in Khajoori Khas, 19-year-old Puneet Kumar was excited to vote for the first time on Sunday but was left disappointed when he found his name missing.
“I came here to cast my vote. I found that my name is not mentioned in the list. Officials don't have a clue. I am standing for the past few hours but nobody is helping me,” a dejected Kumar told PTI.
People in Northeast Delhi and several other areas complained that their names were not mentioned in the voters' lists. Several queries sent to State Election Commission officials on the issue did not elicit any response.
Nusra Jahan (62) reached the polling booth in Bhajanpura to cast her vote but was told her name was not on the list. She requested the officials to check again but in vain. An upset Jahan vented her anger at the officials, accusing them of shoddy work.
She said, “I have voted in several elections and now this is the first time I have been told that my vote is not here. I don't know why this has been done. I asked them for an explanation, but they couldn't explain. Now I have to travel back without casting my vote. This is a mistake on their part."
In Krishna Nagar (East Delhi), Rayan came to cast his vote with his wife. But the 30-year-old was unable to do so as his name was not mentioned on the list.
“I searched for my name and even asked officials but my name is not mentioned on the list. Now I am going back without casting my vote,” Rayan said.
Bundu (61) faced a similar situation. He is from Block E of Kajhuri.
“I have voted in the past but this time my name is not mentioned. I will go back home now,” he said.
Bundu claimed a few others in his locality faced the same issue.
Mohammad Salim, 57, from Jahangirpuri said that he spoke to officials when he found his name missing but was told to go to Samaypur Badli to fix the problem.
Manushi Gupta, 67, came along with her husband and two daughters to cast vote at MBS International School, Sector 11, Dwarka in Southwest Delhi.
Gupta said, "When I showed my voting slip to the poll officials, I was informed that my name had been deleted from the voters' list but they did not specify any reason. However, my husband and two daughters could cast their votes. I waited, hoping there could have been some technical error, but I was disappointed that even after waiting for an hour, I could not cast my vote."
(With PTI inputs)
