All set for civic body election in Ambala

The stage is set for another battle between the BJP and Congress in Ambala City as polling for the mayoral byelection of the Ambala Municipal Corporation will be held on Sunday.

Only the BJP and Congress had fielded candidates in the byelection, after Ambala Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma -- on BJP ticket -- won the Assembly election from Kalka and the seat of Mayor fell vacant.

While after losing the last Assembly election from Ambala City segment, the BJP is looking to bounce back by winning the byelection by a big margin, the Congress is looking to tighten its grip.

For the BJP, Shailja Sachdeva is in the field and the Congress has fielded Amisha Chawla as its candidate.

Congress’ mayoral candidate Amisha Chawla said, “We have focused on developing a personal contact with the voters. One-to-one interaction is a better way of canvassing. The voters are silent as they are not happy with the functioning of the government. They will mark their resentment by voting against the BJP. I am well aware of the problems of the people of Ambala and we are hopeful that people will vote for us. Some people have switched loyalties for their vested interests and joined the BJP but it wouldn’t make any difference.”

Meanwhile, BJP district chief Mandeep Rana claimed, “The morale of the party workers is very high and I am confident that the BJP will win the mayoral election by a big margin. The party will also register victory in the elections of Municipal Council Ambala Sadar and Municipal Committee Barara. The Congress and Independent candidates are nowhere in the election. A number of Congress leaders have joined the BJP over the past few days and many more are in the queue. They will be inducted after discussion with the party organisation.”

The polling for the chairpersons and councillors of Municipal Council Ambala Sadar and Municipal Committee Barara will also be held on Sunday.

For the mayoral byelection of Ambala Municipal Corporation, the administration has established 191 booths in Ambala City. Over 1.93 lakh people are eligible to decide the fate of the candidates.

For the election of the chairperson and councillors of Municipal Council Ambala Sadar, 156 booths have been established and 1.78 lakh people are eligible to cast their vote.

Similarly for the election of the president and councillor of Barara municipal committee, 20 polling booths have been established. Over 19,400 people are eligible to cast their vote.

Deputy Commissioner Ajay Singh Tomer said as many as 367 polling booths have been established for the civic body elections in Ambala. Of those, 97 booths are vulnerable. Ample security arrangements have been made to ensure smooth and peaceful polling on Sunday.