MCD bypolls: 2,332 voters opt for NOTA

New Delhi, May 17: 2,332 NOTA votes were polled in the MCD byelections to 13 wards in which 3,06,677 people had exercised their franchise.

The results for the bypolls held two days ago were declared today with AAP bagging five wards while Congress staged a comeback with four wins followed by ruling BJP which just managed to get three wards. One ward was won by an Independent.

"2,332 votes were given as NOTA in the bypolls, comprising 0.76 per cent of the total votes polled," a Delhi State Election Commission official said. Out of the total vote count, AAP bagged 91,775 votes (29.93 per cent), and Congress 76,267 (24.87 per cent). The BJP despite finishing third,received the highest vote share of 34.11 per cent.

The Bhati ward, which saw a Congress rebel win as an Independent over his BJP rival by a margin of 3,152 votes, had recorded the highest voting percentage of 64.36 on May 15. The same ward had witnessed maximum rush on the polling day with people queueing up in large number till 6 pm, though the poll closing deadline was 5 pm.

Bhati, falling under the Assembly constituency of Chhatarpur, had five hyper-sensitive polling stations, the DSEC official said.

Matiala, which had polled the lowest just 33 per cent, was won by AAP candidate who edged out his BJP opponent by a slender margin of 753 votes. In Ballimaran, won by AAP against BJP, the voter turnout was recorded at 57.6 per cent.

Jhilmil (53.72 per cent) and Khichripur (51.38 per cent) were won by Congress while Nawada and Wazirpur wards picked up by BJP had polled 53.49 per cent and 53 per cent respectively. Tekhand (won by AAP) posted 51.12 per cent turnout.

The MCD, which was trifurcated in 2012, has been a BJP-ruled body for nearly a decade. Out of these 13 wards, seven were previously held by BJP, one by RLD, and five by Independents.

PTI