Polling for elections to two wards in Delhi have been postponed due to the death of two candidates, an official said today.
Both candidates belonged to the Samajwadi Party and were contesting from Maujpur in East Delhi and Sarai Pipal in North Delhi.
"Elections to the two wards have been postponed. While polling in Maujpur will be held on May 14, in Sarai Pipal it will take place on May 21," a senior official of Delhi State Election Commission said.
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When contacted, Delhi SP spokesperson R S Yadav said, "Both the candidates were aged between 40 to 45 years. While our Maujpur candidate was a woman who died a natural death, our Sarai Pipal candidate was a man who died from shock."
Yadav, however, said this setback will not affect the performance of the party in the high-stakes elections, for which the SP had fronted its big leaders as star campaigners. "We are hopeful of winning 15 out of the 28 seats," the SP leader said.
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The erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated into North, South and East Delhi Municipal Corporations in 2012.
Out of the total 272 wards, the NDMC and the SDMC have 104 seats each while the EDMC has 64.
The MCD has been ruled by the BJP for the last 10 years.
The campaigning involving the three main players -- Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress -- was intense, marked by rancour.
(With PTI inputs)
