Counting for bypolls in 12 MCD wards to be held on Wednesday

New Delhi: The bypoll results of 12 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will be declared after the counting of votes on Wednesday.

The results will reveal the hold of the main rivals, the BJP and AAP, on the voters and it will also be an opportunity for the Congress, another major contestant in the bypolls, to recover its lost ground in Delhi.

Out of the 12 wards where voting was held on November 30, nine were earlier held by the BJP and the remaining three by AAP.

"We are hopeful of increasing our tally from nine earlier to at least 10. The party leaders and workers reached out to the voters through extensive campaigning, which is likely to pay off," said a senior Delhi BJP leader.

However, leaders from other parties said that a lower vote percentage may have an impact on the results in several wards.

The vote percentage of the bypolls was 38.51 per cent as compared to 50.47 per cent in the elections for 250 wards of the MCD held in 2022.

All eyes will be especially fixed on the results of Shalimar Bagh B and Dwarka B wards.

The Shalimar Bagh B ward was vacated after sitting BJP councillor Rekha Gupta won the assembly polls in February and became Delhi's chief minister.

Dwarka B ward was earlier held by BJP MP from West Delhi Kamaljeet Sehrawat.

The bypoll results will also reflect the mood of voters in Delhi after the assembly polls won by the BJP and returning to power in the national capital after 27 years.

"The BJP government has spent nearly nine months at the helm and its functioning and response to various issues including pollution, infrastructure and sanitation among others will be tested electorally," said a Delhi Congress leader.

The election is being closely observed as AAP and the BJP will take on each other again after the assembly polls. The BJP won 48 out of the 70 seats in the assembly elections while AAP was reduced to 22 seats from 62 in the 2020 polls.

The State Election Commission, Delhi, has put in place all arrangements for the counting of votes. Ten counting centres have been set up at Kanjhawala, Pitampura, Bharat Nagar, Civil Lines, Rouse Avenue, Dwarka, Najafgarh, Gole Market, Pushp Vihar and Mandawali. Each centre will handle counting for specific wards, with strong room facilities and secure entry and exit protocols, said a statement of the Commission.

The strong rooms, storing the EVMs after polling, were secured with adequate security arrangements including round-the-clock CCTV surveillance, deployment of paramilitary and Delhi Police personnel.

Nearly 1,800 Delhi Police Personnel and 10 companies of paramilitary forces will be deployed on the day of counting.

Around 700 personnel have been deployed for counting and facilities have been provided for the candidates and their authorised counting agents, it added.