MCD polls: Delhi sees weak turnout with 30% polling till 2 pm

NEW DELHI: In what can be seen as a weak voter turnout, around 30 per cent of voters have cast their votes in the ongoing Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections till 2 pm, according to the state Election Commission on Sunday.

A voter turnout of 18 per cent was witnessed till 12 noon while it was only around 9 per cent till 10.30 am today.

The voting began at 8 am and will continue till 5.30 am.

The 250 wards of the newly delimitated MCD are casting votes today, a contest that is likely to witness a tough fight in the tripartite battle among the ruling BJP, AAP, and Congress.

The voting for civic body polls is underway amid tight security across the national capital. 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. 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). 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.

68 Model Polling Stations have been set up with facilities including a waiting area/lounge, distribution of candies/toffees to voters, a selfie booth and Civil Defence Volunteers to help PwD/senior citizens 68 Pink booths have been set up with facilities including 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.

Notably, 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.

This is the first civic election after the fresh delimitation exercise. There were 272 wards in Delhi and three corporations- NDMC, SDMC, and EDMC in Delhi from 2012-2022 that later reunified into an MCD that had formally come into existence on May 22.