Nine per cent turnout recorded in MCD polls till 10.30 am

A nine per cent voter turnout was recorded till 1030 am in the highstakes civic election in Delhi which is largely been seen as a threeway contest among the AAP BJP and CongressThere are 1349 candidates in the fray and over 145 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections to the 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi MCD the results of which have the potential of having ramifications beyond the national capitalPolling began at 8 am and will continue till 530 pm Votes will be counted on December 7AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday urged people to exercise their franchise for setting up an honest establishment in the MCD that delivers resultsKejriwal cast his vote along with his parents wife and children at a polling booth in Civil Lines here Exiting the booth holding his parents hands he said People should vote for the party that is honest and works Vote For those who focus on the cleanliness of the city and not those who keep creating hurdlesDelhi BJP president Adesh Gupta cast his vote along with his wife at West Patel NagarAnil 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 DallupuraAn official said Polling percentage at 1030 am across Delhi in 250 wards is around 9 per cent Polling is going on smoothly in all wards No untoward incident was reported till now Polling has so far been hasslefreeAmong the early voters was 106yearold Shanti Bala who reached the Deputy Ganj polling station in the Bara Hindu Rao area assisted by police personnel and her family membersEarlier in the day Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia asked people to vote for work not for those responsible for making Delhi a dumping yardI appeal to 25 crore people of Delhi to step out of their houses and vote today so that we can work for you People have made up their minds to elect the Aam Aadmi Party in the municipal corporation Sisodia told reporters at his residenceDelhi Lt Governor V K Saxena and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to people to cast votes in the MCD pollsI appeal to all voters in Delhi to exercise their franchise today and fulfil their responsibility of shaping the city the LG tweetedAccording to data shared by State Election Commission officials the total number of voters in Delhi is 14505358 of which 7893418 are male 6610879 female and 1061 transgender personsAuthorities have set up 13638 polling stations across Delhi According to data 3360 booths in 493 locations have been identified as critical or sensitiveSixtyeight model polling stations and as many pink polling stations covering all assembly segments in the city have been established poll officials saidBoth the AAP and the BJP have exuded confidence that they will emerge victorious in the polls while the Congress is seeking to regain lost turfThis 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 AAPs entry has disrupted the political equation of the western coastal stateThis is also the first civic poll being held in the national capital after the February 2020 riotsThe erstwhile MCD established in 1958 was trifurcated in 2012 during Sheila Dikshits 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 22In 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 centThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever