Voting is underway in Delhi for elections to the newly-formed three civic bodies. The main battle is between the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.
As per latest reports, around 15 percent voter turnout was reported till 11 am. The voting began at 8 am and will continue till 5.30 pm.
“The voting percentage ranged between 12 to 15 percent for the first three hours. Since it is a Sunday, the turnout is likely to go up,” a state election commission official said.
The Election Commission received some complaints of electronic voting machines (EVMs) malfunctioning in certain polling booths.
“Certain complaints of EVMs not working and voter slips not being distributed arrived from some polling booths. We are rectifying the technical problems,” the official said.
People queued up as soon as 11,543 booths across the capital opened for voting for elections of the trifurcated Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
Over one crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 2,423 candidates for 272 seats.
While the corporations of North and South have 104 wards each, the East Delhi corporation has 64.
A total of 30,000 armed police personnel have been deployed at the booths to ensure free and fair elections.
The BJP, which rules the corporation, had swept the 2007 elections in the then unified MCD with 168 seats.
While Sunday’s election will see a straight contest between the Congress and the BJP, parties like the Samajwadi Party have also fielded candidates.
For the first time, 50 percent seats (136) have been reserved for women candidates.
Interestingly, the capital is also for the first time witnessing the participation of eunuchs as contestants in the polls.
With Delhi Assembly Elections due in end-2013, the results will have significant impact on the morale of the parties.
The votes will be counted Tuesday.
–IANS