MCD poll ends with 54 percent voter turnout

The polling for the 270 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) ended on Sunday. Around 54 percent voter turnout was recorded in the three corporations in Delhi.

State Election Commissioner S.K. Srivastava said 18 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were replaced due to faulty battery or non-functional button issues.

"Five machines were replaced in north MCD, eight machines in south MCD and 5 machines in east MCD," he added.

Srivastava also listed higher and lower voter turnout recorded in the three zones.

"In North MCD Bhaktavarpur recorded highest at around 68. 7 percent whereas peeragarhi recorded lowest at 46 percent. In south MCD, Madipur recorded highest at 61.51 percent max whereas Lado Sarai only 39.14 percent was recorded. In east MCD Sundar Nagar recorded highest at 63.92 percent, while Shakarpur recorded lowest turnout at 48.78 percent," he said.

The State Election Commissioner (SEC) also casted aside doubts raised on the efficiency of the EVMs.

"EVM has proved that it's un-hackable. It is a robust machine. We have ensured a smooth and fair election. So I Don't think there should be any question related to EVMs. its performance has been good," he added.

Earlier, Chief Minister Arvind Kejrwial questioned the Sate Election Commission over its preparedness after reports of malfunctioned EVMs emerged.

"Reports from all over Delhi of EVM malfunction, people wid voter slips not allowed to vote. What is SEC doing?," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remained hopeful of sweeping the polls.

"In the three and half years of Prime Minister Narnedra Modi's government, everyone knew about the pro-people decisions taken by the BJP whereas in the last two and a half years of Kejrwial government, people remember it as the scandal and corruption ridden government," BJP's Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari told ANI,

Congress' Shakeel Ahmed said the results would be known on April 26 and so it would be unwise to jump to conclusions.

The polling was conducted for 272 wards where over 2,500 candidates were in the fray.

Municipal elections in Maujpur in East Delhi and Sarai Pipal in North Delhi wards were postponed due to the death of two candidates. Both candidates belonged to the Samajwadi Party.

The polling in Maujpur will now be held on May 14 while in Sarai Pipal it will take place on May 21.

Delhi Election Commission set up over 13 thousand polling booths out of which over three thousand were identified as sensitive while around 15 hundred booths were hypersensitive.

Around 57,000 police personnel were deployed to ensure free and fair polls in the national capital.

The result for the 2017 MCD polls would be declared on April 26.