NEW DELHI: Delhi Congress president Anil Chaudhary claimed that he found his name missing from the voters’ list when he arrived at the polling booth to cast his vote for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections on Sunday.
Chaudhary claimed that his name is neither in the voters list nor in the deleted list. “My name is neither in the voter list nor in the deleted list. My wife has voted. Officials are checking it”, said the Delhi Congress president who arrived at a polling booth in Dallupura to cast his vote.
The voting for 250 wards is under way and will conclude at 5:30 pm. Over 1.45 crore people are eligible to vote in civic polls in which 1,349 candidates are in the fray, setting the stage for the high-stakes civic polls largely seen as a three-way contest between the BJP, the AAP and the Congress. The counting of votes will be done on December 7.
Delhi witnessed high-decibel campaigning by AAP and BJP, including its top leaders. According to data shared by the State Election Commission officials, the total number of voters in Delhi is 1,45,05,358 — 78,93,418 males, 66,10,879 females and 1,061 transgender persons. There are 250 wards in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
The Delhi State Election Commission has set up 13,638 polling stations for the elections. The State Election Commission said a large workforce of election functionaries and security agencies have put humungous efforts to make necessary preparations for conducting elections at 13,638 polling stations spread across Delhi. Further, 68 Model Polling Stations and 68 Pink Polling Stations have been established for quality experience of voters. Adequate arrangements for the deployment of forces have been made.
The 68 Model Polling Stations have facilities like a waiting area/lounge, distribution of candies/toffees to voters, a selfie booth and Civil Defence Volunteers to help PwD/senior citizens. The 68 Pink booths have all-female staff at the polling station, a feeding room for lactating mothers, a creche facility for small kids accompanying voters, swings for kids, selfie booth.
The Commission said it has made elaborate arrangements for “safe, secure and pleasant” voting experience. 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.
Both the AAP and the BJP have exuded confidence that they will emerge victorious in the polls while the Congress is trying to regain lost turf.
The BJP, which has governed the civic body in Delhi since 2007, is looking to maintain its winning streak while the Aam Aadmi Party, which has a majority in the Assembly, is looking to make inroads in the first municipal election in the capital after the delimitation of wards.
There were 272 wards in Delhi and three corporations — NDMC, SDMC and EDMC — in Delhi from 2012-2022 which later reunified into the MCD that formally came into existence on May 22. (ANI)