The stage is all set for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls on Sunday with officials and security forces all geared up for the elections, seen as a three-way contest between the AAP, the BJP and the Congress.
Both the AAP and the BJP have exuded confidence that they will emerge victorious in the polls while the Congress is seeking to regain its lost turf.
Over 1.45 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections to the 250 wards of the MCD, in which 1,461 candidates are in the fray. Polling will be held from 8 AM to 5:30 PM and the votes will be counted on December 7. According to the State Election Commission (SEC), around 40,000 police personnel, 20,000 Home Guards as well as 108 companies of paramilitary and State armed police forces have been deployed to ensure smooth conduct of the MCD polls. Besides, this is the first time that six drones are being used to ensure law and order in sensitive areas.
According to data shared by the SEC officials, the total number of voters in Delhi is 1,45,05,358. Of this, there are 78,93,418 males, 66,10,879 females and 1,061 transgender persons.
Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Zone II Sagar Preet Hooda said survey of all the sensitive polls and booths had been done.
"Nearly 40,000 Delhi Police personnel, about 20,000 Home Guards and 108 companies of CAPF and SAP are to be deployed. We have a strong deployment of force in the sensitive poll booths. Area-wise specific plans have also been prepared," Hooda said.
"For election, we have got 108 coys (companies) of Central and State armed police forces," he said. Sixty-eight model polling stations and as many pink polling stations covering all 11 Assembly segments, have been established for quality experience of voters.
Sixty drones will be used in ensuring law and order in the sensitive zones of each district, which has been given four-five unmanned aerial vehicles each.
Dependra Pathak, special commissioner of law and order in Zone I, said policing focussed on the MCD election for the past six-eight weeks. There is a focus on routine policing, staying alert and gathering local intelligence, Pathak said. "We are collating the information and analysing and strategising the area-wise data."
The AAP conducted more than 14,862 public meetings, including jansamvaads, nukkad sabhas, door-to-door campaign, padyatras, nukkad nataks, dance for democracy, magic shows, to reach out to voters. The stakes are high for the AAP as it aims to unseat the BJP that has ruled the civic body for the last 15 years, and the party is banking on the image of Kejriwal as the leader who has provided the denizens with free electricity and water and will live up to the promises made in the municipal elections too.The MCD polls will decide whether Kejriwal’s charisma is still intact in the national capital or people have still faith in the BJP in civic body. n a fiercely fought electoral battle, the AAP hopes the popularity of Kejriwal will work to its advantage. The most important issue in the MCD elections is the problem of inefficient disposal of garbage and the landfills in the city brimming over with waste.
During the 13-day run, the BJP organised over 1,000 roadshows, street-corner meetings, door-to-door campaigns with top party leaders, including National President JP Nadda, senior Union ministers and chief ministers of party-ruled states.As many as 19 Union ministers including Hardeep Singh Puri, Piyush Goyal, Anurag Thakur, chief ministers of six states- Manohar Lal Khattar, Jairam Thakur, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Pushkar Singh Dhami, two deputy chief ministers and 31 MPs took part in the campaign and targeted the AAP, with Kejriwal often in their crosshairs. Star campaigners Hema Malini, Yogi Adityanath and Smriti Irani did not campaign in the MCD and they remained busy in Gujarat.
This will be the first civic election after the fresh delimitation exercise, and the poll will be held days after the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections, and a day ahead of its second phase. Authorities have set up 13,638 polling stations across Delhi for the exercise.