MCD polls: 53% cast vote amid complaints

New Delhi, April 23

The national Capital recorded a turnout of 53.53 per cent in elections to the Municipal Corporation Delhi (MCD) held today amid complaints of faulty EVMs. After a rather sluggish start at 8 am, the voting gradually picked up during the day. The turnout for the MCD polls in 2012 was 53.23 per cent.

State Election Commissioner SK Srivastava told mediapersons that north corporation’s Bakhtawarpur ward recorded the highest turnout at over 68 per cent. At 39 per cent, the turnout was the lowest in South Delhi’s Lado Sarai. He said 18 electronic voting machines (EVMs) had to be replaced owing to battery/button issues.

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“Of the 13,000 polling stations, EVMs were changed in only 18. This shows our EVMs are unhackable, robust and no wrong can be done,” Srivastava claimed. However, in a tweet, Delhi CM and AAP convener observed: “Reports from all over Delhi of EVM malfunction, people wid voter slips not allowed to vote. What is SEC doing? (sic).”   

Polling was held in 270 of the 272 wards of the three municipal corporations. The election in two wards was postponed owing to death of candidates. A total of 1,32,10,206 voters, among them 1.1 lakh first-timers, were entitled to exercise franchise to elect councillors for 270 wards falling in three corporations — NDMC (103), SDMC (104) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (63).

Two exit polls claimed that the BJP could be headed for a landslide victory, winning over 200 wards, and AAP could well be staring at a rout on its home turf, barely two years after it bagged 67 of the 70 Assembly seats. Also, Congress’ attempts to regain lost ground could come a cropper. — TNS & Agencies

Notice to 2 channels

The State Election Commission (SEC) has sent notices to two private news channels for airing opinion polls. The channels — Times Now and ABP News — have been asked to give reasons for airing the opinion polls in violation of the Election Commission guidelines. The Delhi unit of the Congress had on Saturday approached the SEC against a leading media house, which had published and aired opinion polls on the municipal elections.

AAP cries foul

AAP spokesperson Richa Pandey Mishra claimed people in several polling stations had to go back without voting as “several” EVMs were not functional. “The areas with faulty EVMs include Mangolpuri, Patparganj and parts of South Delhi. Some machines did not beep when the AAP button was pressed,” she claimed.