New councillors vow to push Delhi's development

New Delhi, April 17 (IANS) They visited temples, distributed sweets and thanked their supporters for bringing them to power. The victorious candidates in the Delhi civic polls Tuesday seemed to be in a mood to celebrate and were unanimous on the need for development.

The first elections for the trifurcated Municipal Corporation of Delhi saw participation from several young candidates from various professional backgrounds who left their business suits for the khadi kurta pyjamas.

"Now that we have won, we will be celebrating, but the real work will also start now. Our first focus will be on sanitation and roads," said Ankita Saini, 22, a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate who won from south Delhi's Hauz Khas.

A Canada-returned business graduate, Saini added that her focus was on sanitation and education.

"I am going on padyatras and meeting people throughout my area," she said. "Development will be highly emphasised."

While the Congress may have been rejected by a majority of voters, it failed to dampen the spirit of 27-year-old Prerna Singh, who won from Inderlok on a Congress ticket.

She vowed to work for change and development.

The seat was earlier held by her husband, Tarun, but was reserved for women this year prompting the human resource development professional to file her nomination papers.

"I was always deeply interested in social work, so when this year, Inderlok was made a women's seat, I filed a nomination," she told IANS.

"People want good leadership and Tarun was doing a great job here and now I will continue on his path," said the post-graduate in psychology.