MCD polls: 67 candidates withdraw nominations on last day, 1349 in final race

With 1,349 candidates in the fray, the 2022 municipal elections are expected to be a much more direct contest between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which currently controls the civic body

A total of 67 candidates, mostly from smaller parties, pulled their nominations for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, the deadline for which ended Saturday, leaving 1,349 candidates in the final race, the report from the Delhi State Election Commission on November 19, 2022 states.

In 2017, in the east, north and south MCD wards, BJP secured 36.28% vote share, AAP 25.92% (Representative Image)

Of the 2,585 candidates who filed nominations for the upcoming civic body polls in Delhi scheduled to take place on Dec 4, 1,169 were rejected by the election commission on account of various technical shortcomings.

After the withdrawals, the final tally stands at 1,349, including 709 female candidates.

This time, the count has gone down making it a relatively tightly contested race compared to 2017 when 2,809 candidates took part in the municipal elections.

According to the data shared by the State Election Commission, 6 candidates from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), 3 from National Congress Party (NCP), 2 from Janta Dal United (JDU), 1 from Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation and 55 independent candidates withdrew their nominations.

“The elections on December 4, 2022, will feature 1,349 candidates out of which 640 are male candidates and 709 female candidates,” an SEC official said.

Among the candidates who withdrew, according to the state election commission report, include former standing committee chairman of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) Rajdutt Gahlot, who filed his candidature as an independent candidate. He was expected to cause damage to the prospects of the BJP candidates from the Kakrola ward.

Speaking to HT previously, Gahlot said there is immense party pressure on him but he won’t withdraw. “I want to ask my party why I was denied a ticket. I was the standing committee chairman of SDMC and was among the best-performing councillors. I have initiated several development projects in the Najafgarh area,” he added.

With 1,349 candidates in the fray, the 2022 municipal elections are expected to be a much more direct contest between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which currently controls the civic body.

In 2017, in the east, north and south MCD wards, BJP secured 36.28% vote share, AAP 25.92% and Congress 21.40%. The BSP got 4.6% votes, other smaller parties got 3%, and independents secured 8.11% votes.