As the voting for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in the 250 wards of the national capital began on Sunday morning, Delhiites converged to their respective polling booths to cast their vote.

At the polling booth in Matiala village, the first-time voter Sonam said that she has considered issues of roads, women’s safety, and water.

“Roads, women’s safety, and water are the issues I have considered for voting. People should come out and vote. They should understand their responsibility,” Sonam said.

Another first-time voter reiterated a candidate’s promise to resolve the issue of monkey menace in the constituency. He said besides cleanliness, electricity, and water, the monkey menace is another issue we face daily.

The voting for 250 wards began at 8 am and will conclude at 5:30 pm today.

Over 1.45 crore people are eligible to vote in civic polls in which 1,349 candidates are in the fray, setting the stage for the high-stakes civic polls largely seen as a three-way contest between the BJP, the AAP and the Congress.

Casting his vote, a seventy-six-year-old man said, “We have come to vote for our peace of mind by resolving important issues such as water, better sewage system, good roads, and cleanliness,” a seventy-six-year-old man said.

Meanwhile, Asha Gupta said that they don’t want freebies but rather want to have basic facilities.

“We want facilities and advancement instead of getting things for free.

There should be an advancement in every facility we get be it cleanliness, security, road safety, and water supply,” Asha Gupta said.

“Free-but dirty water is of no use and similarly if you promise to provide free electricity but there are prolonged power cuts, then this too is of no use,” she added.

Bharti, 81, said that their main concern is inflation and unemployment because of which he has voted.

“The cleanliness is also a major issue and concern because of which these votes were a necessity,” he added.

The counting of votes will be done on December 7.

According to data shared by the State Election Commission officials, the total number of voters in Delhi is 1,45,05,358 — 78,93,418 males, 66,10,879 females and 1,061 transgender persons. There are 250 wards in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

Delhi State Election Commission has set up 13,638 polling stations for the elections.

The State Election Commission said a large workforce of election functionaries and security agencies have put humungous efforts to make necessary preparations for conducting elections at 13,638 polling stations spread across Delhi.

Further, 68 Model Polling Stations and 68 Pink Polling Stations have been established for the quality experience of the voters. Adequate arrangements for the deployment of forces have been made.

68 Model Polling Stations have been set up with facilities including a waiting area/lounge, distribution of candies/toffees to voters, a selfie booth and Civil Defence Volunteers to help PwD/senior citizens
68 Pink booths have been set up with facilities including all-female staff at the polling station, a feeding room for lactating mothers, a creche facility for small kids accompanying voters, swings for kids, selfie booth.

The Commission said it has made elaborate arrangements for “safe, secure and pleasant” voting experience. These measures are required to keep the electoral field free and to ensure that a level playing field is afforded to all political parties and candidates.