Local bodies’ polls on March 2, model code of conduct comes into effect
The State Election Commission (SEC) of Haryana has announced the election schedule for local bodies, covering eight Municipal Corporations, four Municipal Councils and 21 Municipal Committees. With the announcement, the model code of conduct (MCC) has come into effect in the respective jurisdictions.
Election schedule
Filing of nominations: February 11-17
Scrutiny of nominations: February 18
Last date for withdrawal: February 19
Polling date: March 2
Counting of votes: March 12
Polling for seven Municipal Corporations, four Municipal Councils and 21 Municipal Committees will be held on March 2. This includes Municipal Corporations of Faridabad, Gurugram, Manesar, Hisar, Karnal, Rohtak and Yamunanagar and four Municipal Committees — Ambala Sadar, Pataudi Jatauli Mandi, Thanesar and Sirsa.
Additionally, byelection will be conducted for two mayoral seats in Ambala and Sonepat and three Municipal president seats in Sohna, Assandh and Ismailabad.
For the Panipat Municipal Corporation, elections will be held separately on March 9, with nominations open from February 21 to February 27. The counting of votes for all local bodies is scheduled for March 12.
The SEC will rely on Vidhan Sabha electoral rolls for conducting these elections. The polls will cover 212 wards in Municipal Corporations, 118 wards in Municipal Councils and 214 wards in Municipal Committees. Around 25,000 polling personnel and 10,000 EVMs will be deployed.
Senior IAS/HCS officers will serve as election observers, IPS/HPS officers as police observers and Excise and Taxation officers as expenditure observers.
The minimum educational qualification for mayoral candidates is Class 10 for general candidates, Class 8 for women and SC candidates, and Class 5 for SC women candidates. The same applies to ward members across different local bodies.
The expenditure limit has been revised for mayoral candidates from Rs 25 lakh earlier to Rs 30 lakh now while for Municipal Corporation ward members it has been revised to Rs 7.5 lakh (earlier Rs 6 lakh), for Municipal Council presidents it has been revised to Rs 20 lakh, for Municipal Committee presidents it has been revised to Rs 12.5 lakh and for Municipal Council ward members it has been revised to Rs 4.5 lakh and for Municipal Committee ward members it has been revised to Rs 3 lakh.
Candidates with criminal records must publish a declaration in print and electronic media.
NOTA clause introduced
If all candidates in an election receive fewer votes than NOTA (None of the Above), no candidate will be declared elected, and a fresh election will be held. Furthermore, candidates who previously contested and received fewer votes than NOTA will be barred from re-contesting in the re-election.
State Election Commissioner Dhanpat Singh reiterated that strict adherence to election norms would be ensured and that officials involved in election duty will not be transferred until the process concludes.