NEW DELHI: Turns out, most of us do keep the work pending until the last moment. After a quiet start, the nominations for the MCD elections picked up sudden frenzy on Monday, with hundreds of candidates filing their papers on the last day. Party flags, marigold garlands, dhols and patriotic songs… the candidates and their supporters ensured that there was enough to make their presence seen and heard at the nomination centres.
As many as 750 candidates from the three major political parties AAP, BJP and Congress besides hundreds of candidates from other parties as well as independents filed their nomination on Monday. The total number of nominations is likely to touch the 2,000 mark, according to sources.
Till 11pm, 2,048 nominations of 1,593 candidates had been uploaded, the State Election Commission said. Until Friday, 40 candidates had filed their nomination, of which most were independents. The process began on November 7.
The rush was expected as the EC had on Friday evening announced a two-day off on Saturday and Sunday. For many candidates, Monday began with a visit to the temple or the gurudwara. While a few were seen walking to the centres, many reached the centres on two-wheelers. Several of them had also organised public meetings in their respective wards to show their number strength.
“I visited a religious place to seek blessings before filing the papers,” Dimple Ahuja, an AAP candidate, said. Many AAP, BJP and Congress candidates only got a day to file their papers as the three parties released their last list over the weekend.