MCD Polls: Safety, Security, Sanitation Major Issues For Northeast Delhi Residents

MCD Polls 2022: Residents of Delhi’s northeast exercised their franchise in a civic poll for the first time since the infamous 2020 riots, hoping for a safer future.

Voters wait in a queue to cast their votes for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, at a polling station in Jaffrabad area, in New Delhi on Sunday

Source : PTI

Amid beefed-up security, the residents of Delhi’s northeast exercised their franchise in a civic poll for the first time since the infamous 2020 riots, hoping for a safer future.

Polling was held on 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Sunday.

As per data shared by officials, 3,360 booths, spanning 493 locations, were identified in critical or sensitive categories.

At a polling station in Khajuri Khas, ACP Niraj Tokas said 21 police personnel have been deputed to look after the security at the booth.

"One ACP-rank officer, one superintendent of police, one sub-inspector, four ASI and 14 constables have been deputed to secure the area. The voting went well. Nothing untoward happened," Tokas told PTI.

In Bajanpura, Sub-Inspector Gyan Prakash said 40 personnel have been deployed at the polling booth.

"The safety of everyone has been ensured and the polls were conducted peacefully," he told PTI.

Policemen at the gate of the booth ensured that no gathering took place and allowed a limited number of people inside.

Discussing the issues that were the deciding factors in the polls, the majority of the voters agreed that the 2020 riots have impacted their thinking.

Sitting on a bench at a polling booth, two women voters talked about the riots.

"It was very scary. We hid inside our homes and did not come out for three days. However, the situation in our lane was much better than the rest of the area where shops were burning and people were being killed," Najma, who lives in Nehru Vihar, said.

"The situation is much better now. But the area has changed forever. We want a government that can maintain peace," her neighbour Afsana said.

Riots in northeast Delhi that took place in February 2020 left 53 people dead and more than 200 others injured.

A Delhi Court even described the situation as the “worst communal riots since partition”.

The riots, which went on for three days, had erupted in northeast Delhi on February 24 after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled.

For Nusra Begum (50), a resident of Bhajanpura, safety, security and sanitation were the major issues in the area.

Remembering the horrifying days of 2020, she said she still feels scared.

"The incident has instilled fear in me. We all want to live in a fear-free environment and peace in the area is the priority. All political parties and leaders should think in this direction," Begum said.

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)