Voting for Delhi civic polls underway amid tight security

Voting for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections started on Sunday morning amid tight security in a total of 250 wards which are seeing a three-way contest between the BJP, the AAP and the Congress parties.

The voting which began at 8 am will conclude at 5:30 pm. Over 1.45 crore people are eligible to vote in the civic polls in which 1,349 candidates are in the fray.

To ensure a free and fair poll, 170 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have been deployed in Delhi for the polls. Security has been enhanced across all 15 districts of Delhi and surveillance through more than 30 drone cameras is being carried out in sensitive places.

The high-stakes civic polls witnessed high-voltage campaigning by AAP and BJP which made top leaders, including Union ministers and MPs hit the streets for meetings.

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.

The votes will be counted 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.