The Delhi State Election Commission is going to announce the schedule of elections for a total of 272 wards of three municipal corporations in the state at 5 pm on Wednesday. Election panel officials will hold a press conference in the evening. During this he will announce important polling dates including nomination, scrutiny of nominations, withdrawal of candidature, date of poll and counting of votes. It is to be known that more than 10.4 million voters are likely to exercise their franchise in the municipal elections. The last day for nominations in the 2017 municipal elections was April 3 and the elections were held on April 23 while the results were declared on April 26.
SEC officials said after a review meeting on Tuesday that most of the preparations like revision of electoral rolls, identification of election officials, polling booths have been completed and the Election Commission is ready to conduct the elections.
This time the polling is likely to be held before April 23.
Meanwhile, political parties especially BJP, AAP and Congress have been preparing the pitch for municipal elections in the capital for months. It is worth noting that the BJP is ruling the MCD for the last 15 years and the AAP, which formed the government in Delhi with a thumping majority for the second consecutive term in 2020, wants to remove the saffron party from municipal rule. Apart from AAP, BJP and Congress, other parties like Bahujan Samaj Party, Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal (United) and others have also fielded many candidates in the MCD elections.
The BJP registered an impressive victory in the 2017 municipal elections, winning 181 of the 272 wards in the three corporations of the capital. At the same time, AAP got second and Congress got third place. The results of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and other states will be declared on March 10. In such a situation, the MCD is likely to greatly affect the confidence of the contesting political parties. AAP, which has 62 out of 70 members in the Delhi Assembly, has contested elections in Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
MCD is divided into three municipal corporations. The North and South Delhi Municipal Corporations have 104 wards each while the East Delhi Municipal Corporation has 64 wards. Half of the 272 wards are reserved for women candidates. Prof Tanveer Aijaz, Associate Professor of Political Science at Ramjas College, said that under Article 243ZA of the Constitution, the SEC is mandated to control the conduct of municipal elections. “During Covid, it is the prerogative of the SEC to announce the suggested dates in the MCC and to implement the guidelines. Be it municipal elections, state or national, there should be fair play for the competing parties. Protecting the voice of the electorate is more important for the SEC in times of COVID. However, lacking any legal sanction, the MCC is actually a toothless weapon against campaign misconduct and electoral corruption.
The SEC has issued comprehensive guidelines for the model code of conduct, in addition to making other preparations necessary to conduct free and fair elections. As per the guidelines, a campaign curfew will be imposed between 8 pm and 8 am during which no publicity or public meeting will be allowed. During this time, political parties and candidates will not be able to hold any public meeting for campaigning. At the same time, only a maximum of five people will be able to campaign from door to door. There will be only 10 star campaigners on behalf of a political party in the corporation elections. If there is an unauthorized party, it will have only five star campaigners. Bike rally will be banned. During nomination, only two people will get admission along with the candidate. There will be no permission to take out a victory procession after victory.
The State Election Commission has said that after the implementation of the election code of conduct, only a maximum of 50 people will attend a street meeting. Candidates will be able to use a maximum of five vehicles for campaigning. Preparations for holding elections in all three corporations have been completed. The State Election Commission has held a meeting with all the officials on Tuesday regarding the preparations. In the meeting, from the formation of teams to the implementation of the code of conduct, other preparations have been discussed. The commission may announce the election in the next day or two. The commission has told the political parties that the booth agent of the political party at the polling station will become the same who is also the voter of that polling station. If he is not a voter then he cannot become a booth agent. Along with this, he should not have any criminal case already registered against him.
Poll panels recently raised the ceiling for candidates to spend on elections from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 8 lakh during the 2021 municipal by-elections. About 200 symbols are available for independent candidates and candidates of unrecognized parties.