Poll code in place, stage set for MC elections
Political activities have paced up in the city after the Municipal Corporation (MC) elections were announced on Sunday. Poll hustle bustle can be seen across all the political parties as election procedure starts from Monday and the model code of conduct was imposed with immediate effect. Parties were anxiously waiting for the date to be announced and a lot of political buzz was seen in the city after the elections were announced.
The filing of nominations will begin from Monday between 11-3 pm while the last date for filing nominations is December 12. The scrutiny of nominations will be held on December 13 and the last date for the withdrawal of nominations and allotment of symbols is December 14. Elections will take place on December 21 and counting will be done on the same day.
Although the model code of conduct has been imposed, political hoardings continue to dot the various parts of the city. Huge hoardings of the Aam Aadmi Party-led government telling about its achievements can be seen in various parts of the city, including Ferozepur Road, Sarabha Nagar, Rakh Bagh, Civil Lines, Bharat Nagar, Pakhowal Road etc. With today being Sunday, none of the hoardings were removed and the work for the same is expected to start from tomorrow.
“The Election Commission (EC) gives 24-hour time to remove the hoardings after the imposition of model code of conduct. All the hoardings will be removed by tomorrow after which the work report will be compiled and sent to EC,” said Municipal Corporation Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal.
With nomination filing starting tomorrow, there is a sudden uprise in the political scene and ticket aspirants can be seen making rounds of the local party offices or paying visits to the leaders of their respective political parties.
The meeting of the screening committee of the Indian National Congress was going on since Saturday and the ticket aspirants were being interviewed before the final announcement of the names. President of District Congress Committee, Sanjay Talwar along with senior party leaders Rana KP Singh interviewed the ticket aspirants from the 95 wards.
Rana said the Congress is fully prepared for the MC elections and they are sure that people will show the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) the door as they have realised that the party is not worth it. “We will release the first list of the candidates fighting for the MC elections by tomorrow,” said Rana.
From Congress over 250 candidates had submitted their names and the screening committee was interviewing them since yesterday. Public opinion is also sought and the final list will be handed over to the state president, Raja Warring, tomorrow.
AAP MLA Gurpreet Gogi said the party is ready for the elections. “The list of the candidates have been sent to Chandigarh for scrutiny and the final names will be declared today night or tomorrow morning. The candidates who have close connections with the public and work for the party will be given tickets,” said Gogi.
Bhartiya Janata Party, district president, Rajneesh Dhiman, said although elections have been announced with immediate effect and they welcome this decision but the voter lists have not been printed yet and government is playing these games just to win the elections and trying to conduct the elections in a hush-hush manner with little time at disposal. “I will send the complaint regarding this to the EC,” he said.
