The overall voter turnout at the end of polling for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Sunday stood at approximately 50 per cent at 5.30 pm, the State Election Commission said.

The state poll panel further said that polling was underway beyond the scheduled closing time of 5.30 pm at many booths across the national capital. The overall polling percentage for the MCD elections at 4 pm stood at around 45 per cent.

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The voter turnout in the 2017 municipal polls was 53 per cent.

The incumbent BJP, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress are locked in a three-cornered contest for the 250 MCD wards this year.

The polling process kicked off amid tight security arrangements on a chilly Sunday morning in the national capital at 8 am. Queens of voters were seen at different polling centres since morning.

The commission said that polling for 250 seats was held peacefully. The results of the polls will be declared on December 7.

Over 1.45 crore people were eligible to cast their votes in the civic polls, the state poll panel had informed earlier, adding that a total of 1,349 candidates, across parties, were in the fray this year.

The state poll panel had further informed that it had set up 13,638 polling stations for civic elections, adding that a sizeable workforce of election functionaries and security agencies had put in a lot of effort in making the necessary poll preparations.

Earlier in the day, prominent political leaders including AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Meenakshi Lekhi, Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta, Congress leader Ajay Maken, former Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and BJP MP Parvesh Verma cast their votes for the MCD polls.

Kejriwal along with his family members on Sunday morning exercised his franchise for the MCD polls at a polling booth in the Civil Lines area.

After casting his vote, Kejriwal told the media that this was an opportunity to clean Delhi. He urged the people to vote for an honest party and not for those who are dishonest. “I appeal to the people to vote in large numbers. This is an opportunity to clean the capital city. Vote for those who work and are honest, not for those who are dishonest,” Kejriwal told the media after casting his vote.

After casting his vote for the MCD elections, Union Minister Puri said that the polls are a wake-up call for Delhi. “These polls are a wake-up call for Delhi. We have to make India a developed country by 2047…Recently a report has predicted that we will become number 3 (economy) in the next four-five years. So people have to choose which brand of politics they want to follow,” Puri said.

Meanwhile, Lekhi accused the AAP of not fulfilling promises made to masses and appealed to the people to vote for the party which worked for them. In the Delhi MCD polls, vote for the party which fulfilled its promises and not the one which just made fake promises, she said.

Lekhi made the appeal to the electorate after casting her vote at South Extension.

Delhi BJP President Adesh Gupta cast his vote at the West Patel Nagar ward and later said that people know who the best to vote for is.

Congress leader Ajay Maken cast his vote at a polling booth in Rajouri Garden for the MCD elections and urged the people to see the candidates and vote accordingly.

Former Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan cast his vote for the MCD elections at a polling booth in Krishna Nagar and stated that the BJP has taken the country to new heights.

BJP MP Parvesh Verma attacked the AAP by stating that it has a “habit of lying” and exuded confidence that they will get more than 80 per seats in the ongoing Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections.

“AAP was claiming to form governments in Goa, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh but the people know that they have a habit of lying. During the Covid-19, no one from the AAP was seen working for the people. Only MCD workers were standing with them,” said Verma after casting his vote along with his wife at a polling booth in Matiala village.

He further said that the party will get around 210 seats in the currently underway polls. “We are getting around 210 seats out of 250 in the MCD polls,” said Verma.

The high-decibel campaign for high-profile MCD elections in the national capital ended on Friday with the BJP seeking another term in office and AAP and Congress seeking a change.

All political parties campaigned hard for the elections with the issue of cleanliness in the city figuring prominently in the political discourse.

The BJP, which has governed the civic body in Delhi since 2007, is looking to maintain its winning streak while the Aam Aadmi Party, which has a majority in the Assembly, is looking to make inroads in the first municipal election in the capital after the delimitation of wards.

This year, the Central government unified the three corporations – East Delhi Municipal Corporation, South Delhi Municipal Corporation and North Delhi Municipal Corporation – into one MCD.

After a Home Ministry notification, the total number of MCD wards in Delhi has been reduced to 250 from earlier 272. As many as 42 wards are in the reserved category.

The BJP has governed the civic bodies since 2007. In the last civic body polls held in 2017, the BJP won 181 of the 270 wards. The AAP had won 48 wards. The Congress managed to win 27 seats. The polling was not held for two seats due to the death of candidates.