Millions of voters in the national capital yesterday voted to pick three new municipal bodies in an election crucial for all three main contenders – the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party.
According to the State Election Commission, 54% of the 10.32mn electorate cast their vote, the turnout hit by intense midday heat.
Residents reported “low” voting in many areas but in many others there were long queues of men and women keen to pick three wings of a municipal corporation that covers almost the whole of Delhi.
The balloting was peaceful but both voters and political parties reported numerous cases of malfunctioning of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), which themselves have come under a cloud.
The AAP, which rules Delhi, and the Congress want to end the 10-year reign of the BJP in the civic body, citing poor upkeep of the city’s cleanliness.
The BJP used Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to reclaim the North Delhi, Municipal Corporation (104 seats), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (104 seats) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (64 seats).
Polling did not take place in two wards – Maujpur in East Delhi and Sarai Pipal Thala in North Delhi – where a candidate each of the Samajwadi Party died.
Even as the polling was on, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said reports of EVM malfunctioning came from all over the capital. He also tweeted that many people with voter slips were not allowed to vote.
Kejriwal, who has been up against the BJP and the Election Commission over the EVM tampering, has repeatedly flayed the state poll panel for using pre-2006 balloting machines in the civic polls.
BJP leader Arvinder Singh Lovely, who recently quit the Congress, could not vote because the EVM in his polling station – there were 13,022 in all – broke down.
By 3pm, the AAP “war room” reported 250 calls from voters complaining about non-functional EVMs. The complaints came from several areas including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s constituency Patparganj.
A Maharashtra Congress leader, Shehzad Poonawala, tweeted about the EVMs in Delhi: “Better we call them (E)xtremely (V)ulnerable (M)achines.”
A total of 2,537 candidates were in the race.
Among others who contested the election are the Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal-United and Swaraj India of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan who were earlier Kejriwal’s colleagues in the AAP.
The three civic bodies cover 68 of the 70 assembly constituencies in Delhi. The two smaller civic bodies are the Delhi Cantonment Board and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).
Lt Governor Anil Baijal, Kejriwal, Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken and Delhi BJP leaders were among the early voters.
“I urge the people of Delhi to vote for a filth-free Delhi, a dengue- and chikungunya-free Delhi,” said Kejriwal after voting along with his family.
Asked if the election was a referendum on his government’s two-year performance, he replied: “We will see when the results come.”
The results will be announced on Wednesday. Maken rooted for the Congress.
“The BJP has done enough damage for 10 years. The only thing it has done is engaging in verbal duels with the AAP. People want sensible governance. Going by Congress’ track record, they will vote for us,” he said.
People queue up at a polling booth to cast their votes in New Delhi yesterday.
