50.86% turnout across five municipal wards

New Delhi: With the municipal by-polls held on Sunday, Delhi witnessed its first election exercise since being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. By-elections were held for 5 vacant seats in two wards under North Delhi Municipal Corporation and three under East Delhi Municipal Corporation.

As per official figures, 59.19 per cent votes were cast in Kalyanpuri, 55.95 per cent in Trilokpuri, 55.60 per cent in Chauhan Bangar, 44.58 per cent in Rohini-C, and 43.23 per cent in Shalimar Bagh (north) wards.

The total voting percentage in the five wards was 50.86 per cent. The results for the bypolls will be announced on March 3, officials said, adding that there are 327 polling stations and 26 candidates in the fray.

In Kalyanpuri ward in east Delhi, two of the seven polling locations are in the "critical" category. A total of 16 polling locations out of the total 44 have been kept in this category, as per official data.

According to the State Election Commission, around 2.42 lakh people are eligible to cast their votes in these five wards.

With the results of these by-elections likely to have an impact on the big-ticket 2022 Delhi civic polls, voters across polling stations said that they want to see improvement in road conditions, and easier access to water, healthcare and

education.

In North Delhi's Shalimar Bagh (North) (Ward 62N), which was reserved for women, voters lined up outside the polling booth, covered with 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' graffiti, to cast their votes amid heavy police deployment.

Like other polling stations, this one too had strict COVID-19 protocols being followed. Thermal guns were being used to measure the temperature of all voters. Each polling station was equipped with masks and sanitiser bottles, and social distancing was implemented.

Several women, many of them first-time voters, said that they wanted easier access to better and cheaper healthcare facilities, while many others said they were "fed-up of irregular water supply which hampered daily domestic activities" and wanted it to be more reliable.

Shalimar Bagh North fell vacant after the death of BJP councillor Renu Jaju. The contest is now between the BJP's Surbhi Jaju, AAP's Sunita Mishra and Congress' Mamta. Voter turnout in the ward was 35.67 per cent here.

In ward 32N (Rohini-C), Salini Kapur, in her late 30s, also had issues with the area's water supply. 28-year old Suraj Singh on the other hand wanted better roads as his top priority.

Electricity was another important issue, especially with summers fast approaching. Voter turnout was 35.67 per cent as per State Election Commision officials. Rajesh Goyal (BJP), Ram Chander (AAP) and Mewati Barwala (Congress) were the candidates in the fray.

Under East MCD jurisdiction, three wards, 02-E (Trilokpuri), 08E (Kalyanpuri) and 41E (Chauhan Bangar) went to polls. All three wards were held by the Aam Aadmi Party previously. However, by-elections became necessary when sitting councillors contested the assembly polls last year and became MLAs.

Dhirendra (AAP), Siyaram Kanojia (BJP) and Dharampal Maurya (Congress) were the main candidates in Kalyanpuri, which also saw the highest voter turnout at 50.56 per cent, as per the data shared by the State Election

Commission.