Polling for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) took place in the national capital on Sunday, the first since the big merger. The State Election Commission confirmed that the overall voter turnout at the end of polling for the MCD) stood at 50 per cent (approx) at 5.30 pm. The voter turnout, however, as less compared to the last two elections with main rivals BJP and AAP claiming victory in the high-stakes contest.
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.
Several people in North-East Delhi and some other areas complained that their names were missing from the voters’ lists. Anil Kumar, the Delhi Congress president, was among the people who could not vote. The BJP said it has filed a complaint with the state election commission over the missing names.
The results will be announced on December 7.
Garbage collection and landfills emerged as one of the biggest issues in the fight between the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP, which has been controlling municipal bodies for 15 years.
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 scene.
The BJP, which had deployed its top leaders, including national president J.P. Nadda, 19 Union ministers like Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal and chief ministers of six states in the campaign, is also seeking redemption through a morale-boosting victory.
With a unified MCD led by a mayor of the party, the BJP can continue to challenge the AAP and Kejriwal in the national capital’s politics.
There were 1,349 candidates in the fray and over 1.45 crore electors were eligible to exercise their franchise. The erstwhile MCD, established in 1958, was trifurcated in 2012 during Sheila Dikshit’s tenure as chief minister.
Between 2012 and 2022, Delhi had 272 wards and three corporations — North Delhi, South Delhi and East Delhi municipal corporations. These three civic bodies were reunified into the Municipal Corporation of Delhi which came into existence on May 22.
In the 2017 civic election, the BJP won 181 of the 270 wards. Polling could not be held on two seats due to the death of candidates. The AAP had won 48 wards and the Congress 27. The voting percentage that year was around 53 per cent.