NEW DELHI: The State Election Commission announced the successful completion of the nomination and scrutiny process for the by-elections to 12 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday, scheduled to be held on November 30. The commission received 133 nominations for these wards.
Women candidates showed more enthusiasm in the election process than men, accounting for 74 nominations, while men filed 59 nominations for the 12 vacant seats. After scrutiny, the commission found only 53 nominations valid, while 80 were rejected. Women lost more in the process, accounting for 48 rejections, while the papers of 32 men were found to be invalid.
The Ashok Vihar and Shalimar Bagh B wards had a high rate of rejection at 10 nominations each. The former received 14 nominations, while the latter got 15. The Mundka ward had the lowest number of rejections among all wards at two. It received a total of six nominations.
Meanwhile, candidates from all three major political parties began campaigning in their respective wards. BJP candidates have begun their election campaigns with a series of organisational meetings. The meetings were attended by local MPs, MLAs, ward election convenors, ministers in charge, and workers up to the Shakti Kendra level. From today, all candidates will begin door-to-door campaigns.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, along with Chandni Chowk MP Praveen Khandelwal, Delhi government minister Ravindra Indraj Singh, election convenor Pankaj Jain and BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor attended the inauguration and worship ceremony of the election office of BJP candidate Samun Kumar Gupta for the by-election of the Chandni Chowk ward.
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devender Yadav also inaugurated the election office of Sumita Malik, Congress candidate from the Dwarka B ward and exuded confidence in Congress win.