Delhi MCD polls: 20% voting till noon
The fate of 2,423 candidates would be sealed in the polling being held for 272 wards of the three civic bodies -- East, South and North -- carved out of the existing Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Counting of votes will take place on Tuesday. A State Election Commission official said 18 to 20 per cent voters cast their ballot till 12 noon. "Lot of enthusiasm is being seen among people. Places like Malaviya Nagar and Vasant Vihar have so far registered a low turnout but I expect polling to pick up given the good weather," State Election Commissioner Rakesh Mehta said
Mehta
said
the
polling
was
progressing
peacefully
and
there
was
no
report
of
violence
from
any
part
of
the
city.
Long
queues
were
seen
at
some
of
the
polling
stations
like
Mahipalpur
and
Said-ul-Ajaib
as
morning
walkers
enthusiastically
went
to
vote.
A
large
number
of
senior
citizens
and
women
were
also
seen
queueing
up
at
the
polling
booths
in
the
morning
hours.
"Every
body
should
vote.
They
should
select
the
best
people,
whichever
party
they
belong
to,"
said
91-year-old
Ratilal
Shah,
a
voter
in
Chandni
Chowk.
He
claimed
that
he
had
voted
in
all
elections
since
Independence.
In some polling booths, malfunctioning of EVMs delayed the start of voting with Mehta saying he had reports from eight to ten places about such incidents. EVMs malfunctioned in Sarita Vihar, Narela, Mandwali, Majnu ka Tila, Sadar Bazar and Gokulpuri among other places.
PTI