Delhi MCD poll LIVE updates: Voting under way for 250 municipal wards; 45 per cent voter turnout recorded till 4 pm
New Delhi, December 4
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.
“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,” a senior official of the State Election Commission (SEC) said.
There are 1,349 candidates in fray and over 1.45 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections.
According to data shared by SEC officials, Delhi has 1,45,05,358 voters, of which 78,93,418 are men, 66,10,879 women and 1,061 are transgender people.
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.
According to official figures, there are 229 voters aged 100 and above, and 2,04,301 people aged above 80 but less than 100 years.
AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal cast his vote along with his parents, wife and children at a polling booth in Civil Lines here.
Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta cast his vote along with his wife at West Patel Nagar.
Anil Kumar, the Delhi Congress president, however, found his name missing from the voters’ list. “My name is neither in the voter list nor in the deleted list. My wife has voted. Officials are checking it,” Kumar said at a polling booth in Dallupura.
Among the early voters was 106-year-old Shanti Bala who reached the Deputy Ganj polling station in the Bara Hindu Rao area assisted by police personnel and her family members.
Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to people to cast votes in the MCD polls.
“I appeal to all voters in Delhi to exercise their franchise today and fulfil their responsibility of shaping the city,” the LG tweeted.
This is the first civic election after the fresh delimitation exercise. The MCD poll is being held days after the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections, and a day ahead of its second phase where also the AAP’s entry has disrupted the political equation of the western coastal state.
This is also the first civic poll being held in the national capital after the February 2020 riots.
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.
