Delhi MCD poll results: AAP edges past BJP in neck-and-neck contest

In a neckandneck contest so far the Aam Aadmi Party AAP has gained an edge over the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP as per the initial trends in the counting of votes for the Delhi civic body polls on WednesdayAs per the official data by the Election Commission till 10 am the AAP which was trailing since the counting began at 8 am gained a lead over the ruling BJPThe latest data shows the AAP leading in 114 municipal wards as against the BJP which is leading in 110Congress which was trailing since morning on the third spot maintains its position with its lead in 11 wards while the BSP is leading 1n 1 ward 4 independents are also leadingThe highdecibel battle which was fought in the election campaign ahead of the polling on December 4 witnessed the claims and counterclaims by both parties BJP AAP of winning the elections however it all boils down to December 7 when the outcome of the election would be revealedThe polls for 250 wards in the national capital were held on December 4 with about 50 per cent voter turnout and a total of 1349 candidates were in the fray However the low voter turnout may not be an indicator of proincumbency with the exit polls predicting the AAP win in the MCD pollsAlso Read Delhi air quality remains in very poor category AQI at 337Congress which is mostly focussing on the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra was not predicted in the exit polls to be a prominent challenger in the recently conducted polling The party is predicted to get only a handful of seatsHowever the highstakes civic polls are largely seen as a threeway contest between the BJP the AAP and the CongressFor the counting the Commission has set up 42 counting centres across the city 68 Election Observers have already been deployed by the Commission under whose supervision the counting of votes shall be carried out by the Returning Officers in the presence of candidates or their representativesFurther the Commission has also deployed 136 engineers from Electronics Corporation of India Limited ECIL at these counting centres to attend to any technical issues regarding the EVMs which may arise during the counting of votesSpecial Media Rooms to facilitate viewing of live results on the Commissions web portal on the LED screens at these 42 counting centresThese centres are under multilayered security and entry of persons authorized by the Commission shall only be allowed by the security personnel deployed at these centresDelhi had witnessed highly charged campaigning by AAP and BJP which made top leaders including Union ministers chief ministers of BJPruled states and MPs hit the streets for doortodoor campaigning and meetings to garner public supportThe BJP which has governed the civic body in Delhi since 2007 is looking to maintain its winning streakThis was the first civic election after the fresh delimitation exercise There were 272 wards in Delhi and three corporations NDMC SDMC and EDMC in Delhi from 20122022 that later reunified into an MCD that had formally come into existence on May 22This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever