MCG Ward 34 polls: Rama Rathee is new area councillor
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Rama Rathee won the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram’s (MCG) Ward 34 elections held on Sunday securing over 61.5% of the votes and in the process, becoming a two-time councillor
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Rama Rathee won the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram’s (MCG) Ward 34 elections held on Sunday securing over 61.5% of the votes and in the process, becoming a two-time councillor.
Rama won 5,342 votes of the total 8,680 votes cast, finishing ahead of the three independent candidates, Zile Singh, who secured 2,646 votes, Jagmohan, who secured 573 votes, and Mohit Yadav, who secured 66 votes. Barring Yadav, the other candidates had all contested in MCG elections before.
Fifty-three voters opted for the None Of The Above (NOTA) option.
The total number of eligible voters for the elections was 28,668, and the overall turnout was 30.27%, as per a district administration release.
The MCG by-poll was held to fill the Ward 34 seat after the incumbent councillor, RS Rathee, Rama Rathee’s husband, died of Covid-19 on May 30.
Before her late husband’s tenure, Rama had served as the councillor of Ward 34 from 2011 to 2016 as an independent candidate.
Rama attributed her win to her recent affiliation with the BJP, since the last month.
“Residents of Ward 34 have seen me working as a councillor before, and remembered the work I had achieved during my tenure, which was carried forward afterwards by my late husband. The victory is a sign that residents of Ward 34 continue to show faith and believe in my family’s contribution to the area,” Rama said.
She said that she will resume work on all the projects and other initiatives that her husband had been working on before his death. She said that among her top priorities are de-silting sewerage lines, installing sewage treatment plants (STPs), and widening the water supply and drainage lines to meet the present as well as future demands of the ward.
Areas of DLF Phases 1, 2, sectors 28, 42, Sikanderpur, Chakkarpur, and the Mall Mile fall under Ward 34, which has a population of around 125,000.
Voting for the elections started at 8am and continued till 4.30pm, following which the counting of votes started. The results of the elections were declared around 8.30pm by the district administration.
There were 12 polling stations for the elections, located at Chakkarpur, Sikanderpur, Sushant Lok-1, Maruti Vihar, DLF Phase-1, DLF Phase-2, Sector 27, and at societies of Essel Towers, Garden Estate, and Heritage City.
The turnout at the stations remained scarce throughout the day and there were no instances of rush or queues forming at any of the locations.
Residents of the ward expressed relief of getting a representative and said that they will now take up issues of civic amenities in their area with the newly elected councillor.
“Two projects in our area have been left midway due to the absence of a councillor who could take up the matter on the residents’ behalf with the MCG for redressal. One of these was completing the construction of a common sewerage line, and a stretch of arterial road that needs to be broken and reconstructed so that it is aligned with the stormwater line passing parallel to it,” said Vijay Bharadwaj, a resident of Maruti Vihar.
In DLF Phases 1 and 2, a large number of residents said that they will now ask their councillor to expedite the MCG’s takeover of the townships.
“The takeover of our colony was announced way back in February 2016. It is more than five years but the transfer is nowhere in sight. I, hence, voted for a local candidate who is familiar with the matter, with the hope that they will take up the issue on priority,” Gaurav Bansal, a resident of DLF Phase-1, said.