Delhi MCD Election: Over 50% Voter Turnout Recorded as Fate of 1,349 Candidates Sealed; Results on Dec 7

More than 50 per cent voting was recorded on Sunday in the election to the 250 municipal wards in Delhi, with main rivals BJP and AAP claiming victory in the high-stakes contest. According to the State Election Commission, the poll percentage was around 50.47 per cent at 5.30 pm when the scheduled voting time ended. The figure is likely to rise as polling continued at some polling stations after 5:30 pm with people who queued up at polling booths before the scheduled closing time casting their votes. The results will be announced on December 7.

Security was heightened at 3,360 critical booths spanned 493 locations with the deployment of 25,000 police personnel, nearly 13,000 home guards and about 100 companies of paramilitary forces to ensure smooth conduct of the MCD polls on Sunday, officials said. Sixty drones were used to especially maintain law and order in critical or sensitive booths, they said.

Amid beefed-up security, the residents of Delhi’s northeast exercised their franchise in a civic poll for the first time since the infamous 2020 riots, hoping for a safer future. Polling was held on 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Sunday. As per data shared by officials, 3,360 booths, spanning 493 locations, were identified in critical or sensitive categories. At a polling station in Khajuri Khas, ACP Niraj Tokas said 21 police personnel have been deputed to look after the security at the booth. “One ACP-rank officer, one superintendent of police, one sub-inspector, four ASI and 14 constables have been deputed to secure the area. The voting went well. Nothing untoward happened,” Tokas told PTI.

The BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party accused each other of violating model code of conduct during voting in municipal polls in Delhi on Sunday. Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor alleged that recorded messages of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealing people to vote for the AAP were received by lakhs of people on the day of polling. He said it was a violation of 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.

Polling of those voters who reported before 5:30 is still going on at many Polling Stations

The residents of Northwest Delhi’s Jahangirpuri have cast their votes for peace, communal harmony and cleanliness in this Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections. The market area in Jahangirpuri which had come to a standstill in April due to clashes between two communities during a Hanuman Jayanti procession was bustling on Sunday as people went out in large numbers to exercise their franchise. The clash that erupted on April 16 left eight police personnel and a local resident injured. Although the situation returned to normalcy months ago, the security in the market area was slightly beefed up with the deployment of police and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel every 200 metres. Tajman Bibi, one of the Jahangirpuri voters, said he wants the upcoming MCD regime to focus on peace and communal harmony, which are his primary concerns.

Speaking to ANI, Chaudhary alleged that his name was neither in the voters list nor in the deleted list. Anil Chaudhary arrived at a polling booth in Dallupura to cast his vote for the polls, but was forced to return without him casting his vote. READ MORE 

Grappling with issues such as waterlogging, poor roads and lack of education facilities, people in the rural areas of Delhi’s Rohini and Badli turned up in large numbers on Sunday to vote in the Delhi municipal elections. Waiting in a long queue outside a polling booth in Rohini sector 18, 86-year-old Shanti Devi told PTI that better drainage facilities and roads are needed in her locality.

Several children in the national capital had a brush with the electoral process as they excitedly accompanied their parents and other family members to the polling booths during the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections on Sunday. Several polling booths had special arrangements for kids, including a creche facility, swings and decked-up selfies kiosks. Naman, a class 4 student, had accompanied his maternal grandfather to the polling booth at the Pusa Institute.

Voting started at 8 am on Sunday for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) where the BJP, Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are vying for control. This is the corporation’s first election since the Centre merged the national capital’s three municipal bodies – the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation – into one in May. READ MORE 

“Today, the whole family went together and voted to form an honest government in the Municipal Corporation. Today is a holiday, you too must go and vote with your whole family. Ask your neighbours and acquaintances too. Together we will make Delhi clean and beautiful.” wrote Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Twitter after casting his vote for the ongoing Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections

Over 45 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 4 pm in the high-stakes election to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Sunday. While the turnout at 12.30 pm was 18 per cent, it rose to 30 per cent by 2.30 PM. Voting will conclude at 5.30 pm. The previous civic body polls in 2017 had recorded 53 per cent voting. The counting of votes will take place on December 7.

Polling going on at a fast pace across Delhi. No untoward incident reported so far.

First-time voters batted for a spick and span Delhi with better civic amenities as they queued up for the MCD elections on Sunday. Of the 1.45 crore voters in Delhi, 95,0000 are first-time voters. Coming out of a polling station set up at ITI Malviya Nagar, 18-year-old Namita said her vote was for cleanliness, better education, better parking facilities and against encroachment.

Being wheelchair-bound or walking with crutches was not a deterrent for differently-abled Delhi residents who enthusiastically arrived at the polling booths on Sunday to make their vote count for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election. Praveen (56), whose family brought him to the booth in a wheelchair, said, “Every vote matters”.

At least thirty percent voter turnout was recorded till 2.30 pm in the high stakes election to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. While the turnout at 12.30 pm was 18 per cent, the polling picked pace as the day progressed and will continue till 5.30 pm. The counting of votes will take place on December 7.

Accompanied by her daughter, 106-year-old Shanti Bala Vaidya reached a polling station in Bara Hindu Rao area in north Delhi to cast her vote in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) poll on Sunday morning.”She has not missed a single election since she started voting,” her 40-year-old daughter Kamla said. Vaidya only understands Bengali but cannot talk.”The only word she utters is ‘Maa’. She calls me Maa,” Kamla, who is a dry fruit vendor, said.Police personnel deployed at Deputy Ganj polling station also helped Vaidya in casting her vote.