Bypolls to 5 municipal wards in Delhi to be held on Feb 28

New Delhi, Jan 27 (PTI) The bye-elections to fill vacancies in five municipal wards in the national capital will be held on February 28 with all COVID-19 safety precautions, the State Election Commission of Delhi said on Wednesday.

The bypolls will be held for two wards under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and three under the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), the election body said in a statement.

The wards are: Ward No. 32N, (Rohini-C); Ward No. 62N, (Shalimar Bagh North) in north Delhi and Ward No. 02-E (Trilokpuri); Ward No. 08-E (Kalyanpuri) and Ward No. 41-E (Chauhan Bangar) in east Delhi, it said.

The bypolls will be held on February 28 from 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM, the SEC said, adding that the last date of filing nominations is February 8.

The model code of conduct shall be in force in the above five wards and shall continue to be in force till the completion of the election. The Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007 is also being enforced and candidates are requested to strictly abide by it.

As per the broad guidelines to be followed during the bye-elections in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, every person shall wear a face mask during every election-related activity, according to the statement.

At the entry of halls, rooms, premises used for election purpose, thermal scanning of all persons shall be carried out and sanitiser shall be made available.

Social distancing shall be maintained as per the extant COVID-19 guidelines of the state government and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the statement said.

DEOs shall ensure that the extant instructions regarding COVID-19 containment measures are complied with while making arrangements for conducting the election, it added.

The latest published electoral roll by the chief electoral officer of Delhi shall be used for the purpose of these bye-elections, the statement said.

The ceiling on election expenditure to be incurred by a candidate for the bye-election to a ward is fixed at ₹7 lakh, it said.

Delhi has 272 wards. While the NDMC and the South Delhi Municipal Corporation have 104 municipal wards each, the EDMC has 64 wards.

The BJP has been controlling all three corporations since 2012.