The by-elections to 13 wards of the three civic bodies in the national Capital will be held of May 15, Delhi State Election Commissioner Rakesh Mehta nnounced on Tuesday.
The notification on the crucial municipal by-election will be issued by the State Election Commission on April 18. The last date for filing of the nominations will be April 25 and their scrutiny will be done two days later. The last date for withdrawal of the candidature will be April 30. While polling will be held on May 15, the counting of the votes will be done on May 17.
After facing humiliating defeat in Assembly elections last year, both Congress and the BJP are leaving no stone unturned to ensure their victory in the by-elections.
The AAP has already announced the names of all its 13 candidates. The party, which won 67 of the 70 Assembly seats, has also decided to contest in all the 272 municipal seats in 2017. But Delhi Congress and BJP are yet to announce the names of candidates for the 13 wards.
For AAP, winning the by-election is important as the party is going to contest all the 110 seats in the coming Assembly elections in the neighbouring Punjab.
Of the 13 wards witnessing the by-elections, Vikas Nagar, Navada, Matiala, Munirka, Nanakpura, Bhati and Tekhand fall under the jurisdiction of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, Quammrunddin Nagar, Shalimar Bagh, Wazirpur and Ballimaran fall under the North Delhi Municipal Committee and Khichripur and Jhilmil are under the East Delhi Municipal body. Only Munirka ward is reserved for the women candidates.
The posts of councillors in the 13 wards fell vacant after nine of them resigned on becoming legislators in the 2013 Assembly election and four after the 2015 elections.
About 2,500 persons will reportedly be deployed for conducting the by-polls in 680 polling stations spread across 13 municipal wards.
The State Election Commission has convened a meeting of the three municipal commissioners on Wednesday to discuss the preparations for the by-polls. The AAP Government has already released Rs5 crore for holding elections and is expected to release an additional amount of Rs10 crore from the “Assistant Head” which means that local bodies will have to give details about how it will return them.
The Model Code of Conduct will come into force from April 18 and will be in force till the declaration of the results. The State Election Commission has asked the Government, including the local bodies, not to announce any financial grant in any form or promises thereof in the 13 wards.
The administration has been asked not to lay foundation stone of any project or scheme to attract voters till the results are announced.
The candidates and political parties have been told to put up posters and banners only at places designated by the Commission. The Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007 will be enforced on April 18 and candidates have been requested to strictly abide by it.
Only one drummer will be allowed to accompany any candidate during his campaigning. Also, one lED screen will be allowed for one vehicle for each candidate in each ward.
The ceiling on election expenditure to be incurred by a candidate for contesting elections in one ward has been fixed at Rs5 lakh. Each candidate will be required to deposit Rs5,000 as a security amount. But for SC candidates the security amount will be only Rs2,500.