Polls for Trifurcated MCD is on April 15

The much-awaited polls for trifurcated Municipal Corporations of Delhi will be held on April 15, the State Election Commission declared it on Thursday. The counting of votes will take place on April 17 and newly elected councilors will take oath by April 21.The moral code of conduct for the polls will come into effect from March 5.

On choosing April 15 as date for polls, State Election Commissioner Rakesh Mehta said that it will encourage people to come out and vote. Perhaps the low voter turnout (42 per cent) in last MCD elections prompted this decision

Mehta also added that the Election Commission will soon launch an awareness drive to increase poll percentage.

He said that the notification regarding the filing of nominations and other process will be issued on March 19. March 26 will be the last date for the filing of nominations and there will be two days time to withdraw the nomination.

For the MCD polls, 12,000 polling booths will be set up in around 2,700 schools and other buildings in Delhi where 1.12 crore voters will vote for North, South and East municipalities.

Delhi assembly has recently trifurcated MCD into three parts through an amendment bill passed by Delhi Assembly on December 1, 2011. This bill also reserved 50 per cent of the seats for women. As a consequence, 138 out of 272 seats will set aside for women in three municipalities.