The election of 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in the national capital will be held on Sunday concluding the high-voltage fight between the AAP, BJP and Congress.
The polling will be the first civic body election in Delhi after the fresh delimitation exercise. The election which will be held days after the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections, and a day ahead of its second phase.
MCD Polling
Elections to the 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, in which 1,349 candidates are in the fray, will be held from 8 am to 5:30 pm. The counting of votes will be held on December 7. According to data shared by the State Election Commission, 1,45,05,358 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections in Delhi of which 78,93,418 are males, 66,10,879 females and 1,061 are transgender persons.
Authorities have set up 13,638 polling stations across Delhi for the exercise. State Election Commission poll authorities and its teams were all set for the big day on Sunday and adequate arrangements for the deployment of forces have been done.
Elaborate arrangements to ensure a safe, secure and pleasant voting experience of people has been made, said EC officials. 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.
Campaign Trail
The campaigning ended for the MCD polls on Friday as the national capital saw roadshows of AAP and BJP with leaders of both parties engaged in a bitter political slugfest. On the last day of campaigning, the AAP attacked the BJP, saying people do not want a “corrupt” party like it to come to power in the civic body.
AAP leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, held roadshows in 250 wards of the national capital, while its candidates held foot marches in more than 500 areas of the city. In the run-up to the polls, the party has held 14,862 jansamvaads, nukkad sabhas, door-to-door campaigns, padayatra and nukkad nataks to reach out to the electorate.
Earlier in the day, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia slammed the BJP for turning the national capital into a “mound of garbage” and stressed that people will choose AAP in MCD too.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held an interactive session with yoga teachers and traders, while Sisodia, Delhi AAP convenor Gopal Rai, Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Gupta, ministers Kailash Gahlot and Raaj Kumar Anand, Punjab Minister Sardar Harjot Bains, AAP leader Mahabal Mishra and MLA Durgesh Pathak led the roadshows across NCR.
As part of its campaign, the AAP repeatedly targeted the BJP over its “failure” to clear the three landfill sites in Delhi’s Ghazipur, Okhla and Bhalswa during its tenure in the municipal corporation. Over the years, fires have broken out at these dumping yards which have tonnes of legacy waste, leaving neighbouring areas shrouded in smoke for days. Both the AAP and the BJP have exuded confidence that they will romp home with a majority in the MCD polls.
Meanwhile, the BJP attacked AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal for “patronising rioters and the corrupt” as the party’s top leaders wrapped up campaigning for the civic polls on the last day with over 250 ‘Vijay sankalp’ roadshows across the city. The saffron party also accused the AAP chief of giving a clean chit to minister Satyendar Jain, who is in jail under serious corruption allegations.
During the 13-day run, the BJP organised over 1,000 roadshows, street-corner meetings, and door-to-door campaigns with top party leaders, including National President JP Nadda, senior Union ministers and chief ministers of party-ruled states.
As many as 19 Union ministers, chief ministers of six states, two deputy chief ministers and 31 MPs took part in the campaign.
Polls after Delhi Riots
This is also the first civic poll being held in the national capital after the February 2020 riots in Delhi. As per data shared by officials, 3360 booths, spanning 493 locations, have been identified in critical or sensitive categories.
The Delhi Police will deploy 40,000 security personnel at every nook and corner of the national capital. According to Delhi Police, a total of 40,000 personnel will be deployed across the city on the polling day on December 4. About 20,000 home guards from the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana and 108 companies of CAPF and SAP are to be deployed for the election.
All Delhi government schools will remain closed on December 3 given preparations for the municipal elections, the Directorate of Education said.
There were 272 wards in Delhi and three corporations: NDMC, SDMC and EDMC from 2012-2022, before being reunified into an MCD that had formally come into existence on May 22.
The erstwhile MCD, established in 1958, was trifurcated in 2012 during Sheila Dikshit’s tenure as the chief minister.
In the previous civic elections in 2017, the BJP had trounced both the AAP and the Congress, winning 181 of 270 wards on which votes were held. Traders’ body the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has also extended support to the BJP.
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