Poor voter turnout in Ambala, polling peaceful

The fate of the candidates contesting the civic body elections in Ambala was sealed in EVMs on Sunday.

Polling was held for the mayoral byelection of Ambala Municipal Corporation, chairperson and councillors of Municipal Council Ambala Sadar, and president and councillors of Municipal Committee Barara.

A poor voter turnout was reported in Ambala as the voter turnout for the Ambala Municipal Corporation was just around 32 per cent. It was around 52.3 per cent and 67.5 per cent in Ambala Sadar and Barara, respectively.

For the mayoral election of the Municipal Corporation, BJP’s Shailja Sachdeva and Congress candidate Amisha Chawla were in a direct contest. For Municipal Council Ambala Sadar’s chairperson post, BJP’s Swaran Kaur and Independent candidate Mandeep Kaur were in the fray. For Barara Municipal Committee president’s post, seven candidates, including BJP’s Harjinder Singh and six Independents Kuldeep, Omparkash Sharma, Baljit Singh, Rita Kesri, Davinder Kumar and Rajat were in the fray.

An old-aged woman reached a polling station in Ambala Cantonment in an ambulance to cast her vote.

Concerned about the low voter turnout, the BJP and Congress leaders were seen making repeated appeals on social media requesting people to come out and cast their vote.

Cabinet Minister Anil Vij, after casting his vote, said, “A triple engine government will be formed in Haryana and people are well aware that if all the engines run in the same direction, it would be beneficial for the state. There is a BJP government at the Centre and the state, and with representatives of the BJP in civic bodies, smooth development will be ensured. The BJP will make a clean sweep in Municipal Council Ambala Sadar election.”

Kalka MLA and former Ambala Municipal Corporation Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma, Congress Ambala MP Varun Chaudhry and his wife Mullana MLA Pooja Chaudhry also cast their vote in Ambala City. Pooja Chaudhry said, “Voters must use their right and cast their vote. They should elect a strong leader who can raise the voice of the people and get the issues resolved.”

Congress leader Mithun Verma said, “The voters have not shown much enthusiasm in voting. The markets remained open in the initial hours and it was also a reason behind lower voting.”

Meanwhile, barring sporadic incidents of verbal spat between the supporters of candidates and technical glitches, polling went off peacefully. Some people raised objection over voter slips carrying pictures of a party candidate being distributed outside the polling station in Salarheri in Ambala Sadar. After getting information, SDM Ambala Cantonment Vinesh Kumar and police officials reached the spot and controlled the situation.