Delhi MCD elections to be held in April after CBSE board exams

Delhi Election Commission sources say civic polls in Delhi may be held in April third week. They said notification for the polls may be issued after the CBSE board exams. BJP, AAP and Congress are the three main contenders.

Elections to the three municipal corporations in the city are likely to be held in the third week of April, sources said.

Voters queue up to cast their votes in the Delhi municipal bypolls at Khichripur east Delhi in May 2016. (Arun Sharma/HT Photo)

Sources in the Delhi Election Commission said notification for the polls is likely to be issued after the board exams are over.

“The new House in south, north and east municipal corporations will have to be constituted before April 27. We generally require about a month’s time for polls from the day of notification. However, it can be advanced by a few days in case of Delhi as deploying logistics is easier here. We are likely to come out a notification regarding poll dates by the end of March,” a senior official said.

Read: Delhi BJP banking on Poorvanchali-Dalit votes to win civic poll

“The only technical formality left from our side is classification of reserved seats across the three civic bodies, both for women and scheduled castes,” the official added.

The state election commission notified the redrawn boundaries for 272 municipal wards on Tuesday. The delimitation exercise was conducted to rationalize the population increase and the related change in the demography of municipal wards and assembly seats. Delimitation has affected 37 of 70 assembly seats in the city.

The number of municipal wards in some seats has increased up to seven, while in some others it has come down to three. Before delimitation, each assembly segment had four wards each.