Voting underway in 12 wards; BJP, AAP, Congress in fierce battle
Voting in 12 districts for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) by-elections began on Sunday, November 30, with 51 candidates, including 26 women, contesting in 12 seats. Voting started at 7.30 in the morning at 580 polling stations and will continue until 17.30. The election will be seen as a reflection of public sentiment after the BJP’s dominant performance in the assembly elections in February, when it wrested power from the AAP after 27 years. BJP, AAP and Congress are locked in fierce competition, with the BJP and AAP trying to expand their influence in civic governance. BJP has fielded 8 women candidates, AAP has 6 and Congress has 5. AAP is determined to regain ground after losing the assembly elections but has faced a setback with senior leader Rajesh Gupta switching to BJP.
Voting in 12 districts for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) by-elections began on Sunday, November 30, with 51 candidates, including 26 women, contesting in 12 seats. Voting started at 7.30 in the morning at 580 polling stations and will continue until 17.30. The election will be seen as a reflection of public sentiment after the BJP’s dominant performance in the assembly elections in February, when it wrested power from the AAP after 27 years. BJP, AAP and Congress are locked in fierce competition, with the BJP and AAP trying to expand their influence in civic governance. BJP has fielded 8 women candidates, AAP has 6 and Congress has 5. AAP is determined to regain ground after losing the assembly elections but has faced a setback with senior leader Rajesh Gupta switching to BJP.
Key Candidates from BJP, Congress and AAP
On November 9, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party announced their candidates for the Delhi Municipal Corporation by-elections. Eight of the BJP’s candidates are women. BJP’s Jaipal Singh Saral will contest from Mundka, Anita Jain from Shalimar Bagh B, Veena Asija from Ashok Vihar, Suman Kumar Gupta from Chandni Chowk, Sunil Sharma from Chandni Mahal, Manisha Rajpal Sehrawat from Dwarka B and Rekha Rani from Dhichaon Kalan. According to the party’s statement, other BJP candidates in the list include Chandrakanta Shivani (Naraina), Rohini Raj (Dakshinpuri), Subhrajeet Gautam (Sangam Vihar A), Anjum Mandal (Greater Kailash) and Sarla Chaudhary (Vinod Nagar).
There are five women on the congress’ candidate list. Congress’ Mukesh from Mundka, Sarita Kumari from Shalimar Bagh-B, Vishakha Rani from Ashok Vihar, Ajay Kumar Jain from Chandni Chowk, Kunwar Shehzad Ahmed from Chandni Mahal, Sumita Malik from Dwarka-B, Rashmi Sharma from Dichau Kalan, Manoj Tanwar from Naraina, Suresh Choudhary from Sangam Vihar-A, Vikram Dakshin Puri, Shikha Kapur from Greater Kailash and Vinay Shankar Dubey from Vinod Nagar.
Aam Aadmi Party has also announced its by-poll candidates. AAP’s candidates are Ram Swaroop Kanojia from Dakshin Puri, Anuj Sharma from Sangam Vihar A and Eeshna Gupta from Greater Kailash. Geeta Rawat has been elected as the AAP candidate from Vinod Nagar, while Babita Ahlawat will contest from Shalimar Bagh B. Seema Vikas Goel will contest from Ashok Vihar, Harsh Sharma will contest from Chandni Chowk and Muddasir Usman Kureshi will contest from Chandni Mahal. Rajbala Sehrawat will contest from Dwarka B, Anil Lakra from Mundka, Rajan Arora from Naraina and Keshav Chauhan from Dichao Kalan.
(With inputs from ANI)
