New Delhi: Polling for MCD elections begin

New Delhi, Apr 15: Polling began for the Delhi municipal elections this morning as large number of police personnel kept tight vigil over the city to ensure that the nine-and-a-half-hour long exercise go without any untoward incident.

The electoral fate of 2,423 candidates would be sealed during the polling held in 272 wards of the three civic bodies -- East, South and North -- carved out of the existing Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

The polling began at 8 AM and would end at 5:30 PM. The counting of votes would be done on Tuesday.

A total of 1.15 crore eligible voters would exercise their franchise in the polls which include 42.95 lakh voters in North Delhi Municipal Corporation, 42.67 lakh voters in South Delhi corporation and 27.16 lakh voters in East Delhi corporation.

There are 104 each wards in South and North Corporations and 64 in the East, of which 138 seats are reserved for women. South has the highest number of 904 candidates followed by North (885) and East (634).

The municipal polls is seen as crucial for Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Congress as well as opposition BJP with leaders believing that it could be an indicator for what is in store for the Assembly polls which is 18 months away.

BJP, which has 164 councillors in the undivided MCD against Congress' 67 and BSP's 17, harps on alleged corruption by Dikshit government while Congress is targeting the saffron party on its "inefficient and corrupt" administration in MCD.

PTI