Education, health infra, cleanliness among prime issues for electorate of MCD polls

Development of education and health infrastructure, cleanliness and better civic amenities are among the prime issues for the electorate of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election which is being held on Sunday.

Polling started at 8 am and will continue till 5:30 pm. Votes will be counted on December 7. Over 1.45 crore people are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections to the 250 wards of MCD, the results of which have the potential of having ramifications beyond the national capital.

For 47-year-old Aarti Kohli, cleanliness is the main issue and she hopes that whoever takes charge of the civic body works on the cleanliness issue.

"MCD elections are important because it is fought based on local issues. For me, cleanliness is the most important factor. If our areas are not clean, it could lead to diseases like malaria and dengue," she said.

Manoj Gupta, a resident of Lajpat Nagar said, "While voting, it was clear in my mind that the vote is for the development of our area and enhancing the education infrastructure here."

Prithviraj (79), who claims to have never missed voting in an election be it MCD, Lok Sabha or Assembly elections, said that health and enhancement of school infrastructure are of prime importance for him while voting.

"Ultimately the children are our future leaders who need to be aware of what is going on in the country," he said while casting his vote at the polling booth in Krishna Nagar.

At the DDU Marg Pink Booth, Kanhaiya Lal said people want development of schools and hospitals and the betterment of MCD facilities. "The party that can give us these things deserves to come to power."

Kamal Kishore, a 45-year-old resident of Mata Sundari Road, claimed the MCD schools and hospitals are in a bad state. "School children should get better facilities. Their economic status should not be a bar. That is the issue I have voted for."

Rajkumari said education was the main issue, and whosoever comes to power should ensure that children get the best education. "The job of MCD is to keep the streets clean. The focus should be on cleanliness and hygiene."

The MCD election is largely seen as a three-way contest among the AAP, the BJP and the Congress. Both the AAP and the BJP have exuded confidence that they will emerge victorious in the polls while the Congress is seeking to regain lost turf.

This is the first civic election after the fresh delimitation exercise, and the poll is being held days after the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections, and a day ahead of its second phase.

Expressing anguish over the state of his locality, Lajpat Nagar resident 48-year-old Raminder Singh said that this time he ensured that the neighbours too come out to vote.

"The roads are in a pathetic condition and when it comes to cleanliness no work has been done in the past few years. They (political parties) take people for granted. They come to us asking for votes but after being elected all we get is pathetic roads and unclean areas," he said.