Voting for the hotly-contested municipal elections began at 8:00 a.m today. A total of 270 municipal wards are going to the polls.
These elections have been witnessing a three-way fight, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) contesting for the first time. With AAP trying to make a last-minute pitch to voters, the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, the principal opposition both ramped up their campaigning.
Here are the updates:
6.45 p.m.: Polling ends at 5.30 p.m., but those who entered the polling stations before the stipulated time have been allowed to vote. “The entire electoral exercise passed off peacefully. The turnout by 4 p.m. was around 45% and we are very hopeful that the final tally will be beyond 54%, the voting percentage in the 2102 civic body polls in Delhi,” State Election Commissioner S.K. Srivastava says.
“Around 22.2 lakh people have cast their vote in areas under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation,” the State Election Commission says.
5.30 p.m.: 42.89% turnout in 219 wards till 4 p.m., reports our correspondent Damini Nath.
5.10 p.m.: For the first time, the ‘None Of The Above’ (NOTA) option was made available in the MCD polls.
A total of 1,32,10,206 voters, including over 1.1 lakh first-time voters, were eligible to exercise their franchise to elect the councillors for the 270 wards under the three civic bodies — North Delhi Municipal Corporation (103 wards), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (104) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (63). - PTI
4.30 p.m.: Megha, a first time voter from West Guru Angad Nagar says she voted for "a government which will improve sanitation, street lighting and safety."
Neha Jain, resident of Model Town 2, being pregnant, came to vote but failed because her name is not on the list while names of other 14 members of her family are listed. "It's my right and I've been denied that," she says.
3.50 p.m.: Around 35 per cent votes were polled in the municipal elections in the national capital till 2 PM, with the electorates in north Delhi leading the tally. “Around 43,82,359 votes have been polled since 8 AM. As many as 16,40,304 people have cast their vote in areas under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation,” according to the State Election Commission (SEC).
3.30 p.m.: Responding to allegations by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that reports of faulty EVMs were coming in, State Election Commissioner S.K Srivastava said he had not received any complaints of EVMs not working. But he added that a total of 64 EVMs were replaced before or soon after polling began at 8am.
2.00 p.m.: Total voting percentage till 12 noon is 29.23 per cent
1.30 p.m.: The Election Comission of India has issued a letter of intent for purchase of 16 lakh paper trail machines for EVMs in the next two years.
According to PTI, the Commission issued letter of intent to ECIL and BEL — both PSUs — on Friday, two days after the Union Cabinet cleared its proposal to buy 16,15000 voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) units at an estimated cost of Rs 3,173.47 crore.
The poll panel has informed them that the machines would be bought during 2017-18 and 2018-19.
The Commission will buy 8,07,500 paper trail units each from the two manufacturers by September, 2018.
1.00 p.m.: Our correspondent Damini Nath tells us why voters' ring fingers are being marked instead of the usual forefinger. Turns out, the index and middle fingers were marked for Gurdwara polls and the Assembly by-polls!
Meanwhile:
12:45 p.m.: Voter turnout is steadily picking up as the day wore on. A total voter turnout of 16% was registered till noon.
Nearly 22,37,056 voters exercised their franchise.
12:15 a.m.: Aam Aadmi Party's Raghav Chadha casts his vote. Says "people have seen the filth around them for a decade, will vote for a garbage and disease free city."
11:50 a.m.: 9.81% turnout has been registered till 11:40 a.m.
11:20 a.m.: As we are approaching noon.. it seems to be a relatively cooler day in the Capital. Maximum temperature likely to hit 39 degrees Celsius; 3-4 degrees cooler than when campaigning was on last week.
Voters won't have to face the heat-wave like candidates.
11:10 a.m.: 4.26% turnout has been registered till 10: 50 a.m. Around 5,67,212 votes have been cast, according to numbers from the State Election Commission.
11:00 a.m.: The Delhi Police has deployed over 56,000 police personnel across the Capital to ensure that the civic elections are conducted smoothly.
Security personnel on duty at Geeta Colony.
10:45 a.m.: 1.16% voter turnout has been registered till 10: 30 a.m.
East: 0.78%
North: 1.47%
South: 1.10%
10:30 a.m.: Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken speaks to reporters after casting his vote. In a previous interaction with The Hindu ’s editorial staff Mr. Maken said the party was upbeat about today's municipal elections.
DPCC president Ajay Maken with his daughter Arushi after casting their vote at Rajouri Garden on the polling day of MCD election.
10:20 a.m.: A total voter turnout of 0.20% has been recorded till 10 a.m.
And the total number of votes cast till 10 a.m.: 26,982
9:45 a.m.: Early voter turnouts are yet to be ascertained.. but there are hardly any queues at a few polling stations, our reporters say.
At several South Delhi Colonies like Defence Colony, Green Park, Hauz Khaz, Gulmohar Park and SDA, polling booths have seen only a trickle of people showing up in the first two hours.
9:30 a.m.: Citizen Speak:
90-year-old Dhan Singh says all politicians are the same, but he felt the need to vote as it was his right.
9:15 a.m.: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal just voted along with his family.
Here he speaks exclusively to The Hindu , about EVMs, and the Delhi municipal polls
Delhi Chief Minister along with his family members after casting their vote at the Civil Lines polling booth in New Delhi on Sunday.
9:10 a.m.: Three EVMs have been replaced.
9:00 a.m.: Voters are not being allowed to take their phone inside the polling booth at some areas. They've been requested to hand it over to people outside, Jaideep Deo Bhanj reports.
8:30 a.m.: "The police has a huge responsibility today to prevent and check EVM tampering," AAP leader Gopal Rai says.
"If no mischief is done, we will win over 200 seats," he says.
8: 00 a.m.: Delhi State Election Commission says there are no reports of EVMs malfunctioning after mock polls, Damini Nath reports.
Polling will be conducted as per schedule.
"EVMS brought for MCD polls lack security feature," Mr. Kejriwal had earlier said.
7:30 a.m.: The issue of garbage piled up in the city featured in the manifestos of all the parties. Here's a picture taken in the morning:
Huge piles of garbage seen at Shahalam Bandh in North West Delhi on polling day.
7:20 a.m.: The elections today are seen as a test of the popularity of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi.
After a sweeping victory in the 2015 Delhi assembly elections, this is the first time the party will be facing Delhiites in an election. The big question is whether the AAP’s recent losses in Punjab and Goa Assembly elections affects the way Delhi votes.
7:15 a.m.: A range of last-minute campaign and outreach programmes were conducted by all parties till the 5.30 p.m. deadline.
