Civic bypolls on May 15, acid test for BJP & Congress

It’s going to be a do or die battle for the BJP and Congress who will face the AAP for the first time in 13 municipal wards where byelections will be held on May 15. After facing humiliating defeat in last year’s Assembly elections, both the Congress and the BJP are leaving no stone unturned to ensure their victory in the byelections.

The AAP, which will face an electoral test first time after taking over the reins of the Delhi government a year ago, has already announced all 13 candidates for the bypolls. The AAP, which won 67 of the 70 Assembly seats last year, has also decided to contest all the 272 municipal seats in 2017. However, both the Congress and the BJP are yet to announce the names of their candidates for any of the 13 wards. The bypolls will be a major challenge for the AAP as the outcome will reflect on its one-year governance in Delhi. For the AAP, winning the byelections is also important as it is going to contest all the 110 seats in the coming Assembly elections in Punjab.

The notification for the municipal byelections will be issued by the State Election Commission on April 18. The last date for filing of the nominations will be April 25 and their scrutiny will be done two days later. The last date for withdrawal of the candidature will be April 30. Polling will be held on May 15 and the counting of the votes will be done on May 17. Of the 13 wards facing byelections, Vikas Nagar, Navada, Matiala, Munirka, Nanakpura, Bhati and Tekhand are part the South Delhi Municipal Corporation; Quammrun-ddin Nagar, Shalimar Bagh, Wazirpur and Ballimaran in the North Delhi Municipal Committee; and Khichripur and Jhilmil in the EDMC. Only Munirka ward is reserved for a female candidate. The posts of councillors in the 13 wards fell vacant after nine of them resigned on becoming legislators in the 2013 Assembly election and four after the 2015 elections.

About 2,500 persons will be deployed for conducting the bypolls in 680 polling stations spread across 13 municipal wards. The State Election Commission has convened a meeting of the three municipal commissioners on Wednesday to discuss the preparations. The AAP government has already released Rs 5 crore for holding the elections and is expected to release an additional amount of Rs 10 crore.

The model code of conduct will come into force in the 13 municipal wards from April 18 and will be in force till the declaration of results. The State Election Commission has asked the government, including the local bodies, not to announce any financial grant in any form or promises thereof in the 13 wards. The administration has been asked not to lay foundation stone of any project or scheme to attract voters till the results are announced.

The candidates and political parties have been told to put up posters and banners only at places designated by the commission. The Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007 will be enforced from April 18 and candidates have been requested to strictly abide by it. Only one drummer will be allowed to accompany any candidate during campaigning. Also, one LED screen will be allowed for one vehicle for each candidate in each ward.

The ceiling on election expenditure to be incurred by a candidate for contesting elections in one ward has been fixed at Rs 5 lakh. Each candidate will be required to deposit Rs 5,000 as a security amount. But for Scheduled Caste candidates, the security amount will be only Rs 2,500.