The stage is set for by-elections in 12 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Sunday amid tight security. Voting will begin early in the morning and conclude late in the evening.
The government and the agencies concerned have put in place elaborate security arrangements and are also ensuring people’s convenience to ensure that the polling goes smoothly and unhindered.
Notably, this is going to be the first major face-off amongst the political parties in Delhi after the assembly polls that took place in February, earlier this year.
The contest is going to be interesting and will also reveal the public’s mood, as it has been ten months since the assembly polls.
Notably, the 12 wards include localities from South Delhi, Old Delhi, West Delhi, Central and North side of the city, which have different issues, and also include areas that are part of Delhi’s rural belt.
As the locals say, common problems in most of the wards going for the by-elections include sanitation, drainage, and other civic woes.
The contest is going to be interesting, triangular, with the main players being the AAP, BJP and the Congress.
A total of 51 candidates are contesting these by-elections, and there will be as many as 580 voting booths that have been set up across 143 voting locations.
The wards such as Mundka, Dichaon Kalan, Sangam Vihar, and Naraina fall in the villages of the national capital. As per the locals, they have been facing multiple issues.
These places have a mixed population, narrow lanes, and need a lot of work to be done, like improvement in roads, sanitation, water and sewer issues and others.
Greater Kailash seems to be the most posh ward amongst those going for by-polls this time, and residents have several issues that they want to be fixed and are looking forward to.
Meanwhile, the police and administration are going to have elaborate security arrangements in place to ensure smooth polling.
The police are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that there is no untoward incident.
It was not very long ago that the city witnessed the explosion near the Red Fort, and since then, the security agencies have been more cautious, especially when it comes to the sensitive areas.
This time, the areas of Old Delhi, Chandni Chowk and Chandni Mahal are also going for by-elections, and appropriate arrangements have been made to ensure smooth voting.
Apart from the Delhi Police personnel, the Home Guards, and several companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) will also be deployed in poll security duties.
Additional checkpoints, pickets, more patrolling, and police presence on the ground, along with special unit deployments, will be there.
Delhi Metro and Delhi Transport Corporation services will also be operational from early morning hours.
Metro will start from 04:00 am in view of the by-polls, both on the voting and the day of counting, in a bid to ensure smooth and timely movement of polling personnel and staff.