Both the BJP and the AAP have fielded 250 candidates, while the Congress has contested only 247 seats. The voting for the polls is scheduled to be held from 8 am to 5:30 pm. The counting of the votes will be done 7 December.
The elections are seeing high-pitched contests between the BJP, which currently holds the reins of the civic bodies in the national capital, and the AAP, besides the Congress. The BJP has ruled the MCD for 15 years and is now seeking its fourth term.
Arrangements for MCD polls:
Delhi State Election Commission has set up 13,638 polling stations for the civic body polls. Around 40,000 police personnel, 20,000 home guards as well as 108 companies of paramilitary and state armed police forces has been deployed to ensure smooth conduct of the MCD election.
As reported by news agency ANI, 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.
Apart from this, 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, as per the report.
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).
Also Read: Be Indian, adopt Indian: AAP to campaign for stray dogs post-Delhi MCD elections
The sale of liquor has been banned temporarily in the national capital. The national capital's Excise Department had announced that alcohol sales will be prohibited for three days in Delhi starting from the evening of 2 December.
All the wholesale and retail markets in the national capital will remain closed on December 4 in view of the civic body polls, a traders' body told PTI. The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) said popular markets, including Lajpat Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Kamala Nagar, Karol Bagh, Laxmi Nagar among others will remain closed.
The metro train services on all lines will start from 4 am from all terminal stations on the day of the civic polls. As per DMRC, the trains will run with a frequency of 30 minutes on all the Lines till 06:00 am. After 6:00 am, Metro trains will run as per the normal Sunday timetable throughout the day." the DMRC said in a statement.
BJP v/s AAP:
With AAP looking to wrest power from the BJP, the saffron party is eying its fourth consecutive time at the civic body. The Congress has suffered back-to-back drubbing in the national capital since 2015 in parliamentary, assembly and municipal corporations polls.
In the high decibel 13-day campaigning, the BJP leaders claimed victory in the election for 250 MCD wards on December 4 and mounted an all-out attack on the AAP and its convener Arvind Kejriwal over corruption.
AAP leaders led by Kejriwal attacked the BJP with equal vigour, raising issues such as landfills in the city and "corruption" during the saffron party's 15-year-rule at the municipal corporations.
BJP national vice president and incharge of the party's Delhi unit Vaijayanti Panda claimed that the city voters will vote for development. "The BJP is going to secure a comfortable majority in the MCD," Panda said.
The AAP leadership has said it will win over 200 wards. Kejriwal had earlier claimed during the campaigning that the BJP will not secure more than 20 wards.
With 18% of candidates facing criminal cases, AAP has become the party with a maximum of 45 candidates with criminal records in municipal elections this year, stated Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in its report.
According to the ADR report, the BJP has the highest number of millionaire candidates in the fray, followed by the AAP and the Congress. Of the top three richest candidates, two from the BJP and one from the AAP.
In the 2017 civic election, the BJP had won 181 of the 270 wards. No polling could be held on two seats due to death of candidates. The AAP had won 48 wards and the Congress 27. In 2017 civic polls, the voting percentage was about 53.
(With inputs from agencies)
