Civic polls: Stage set for voting today

Stage is set for polling to five Municipal Corporations, 44 municipal councils, nagar panchayats and vacant seats in other civic bodies of the state tomorrow. The results will be declared the same day.

Advertisement

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) apparently has the edge in these election even as the Opposition is crying foul over ‘misuse’ of state machinery to ensure victory of candidates belonging to the ruling party.

The voting will be held from 7 am to 4 pm. The results are expected to start trickling in an hour later.

As many as 3,336 candidates are in the fray from all four major political parties — AAP, Congress, BJP and SAD.

The Amritsar and Jalandhar MCs have 85 wards each, Ludhiana has 95, Patiala 60 and Phagwara 50.

841 booths set up in Amritsar

The election authorities in Amritsar district have set up 841 booths election to the Municipal Corporation, nagar councils and nagar panchayats. As many as 811 booths are set up for the Amritsar MC. Three hundred of these booths have been declared sensitive and 245 very sensitive. As many as 470 candidates are in the fray for the 85 seats in the civic body.

380 in fray in Jalandhar

A total of 380 candidates are in the fray from the 85 wards of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation. The city has 6,83,367 voters, including 3,54,159 men, 3,29,188 women and 20 from the third gender.

There are 85 candidates from the ruling AAP. A candidate from the Congress had withdrawn her papers. The BJP is not contesting in two wards. The SAD has only 31 candidates while the BSP has fielded its candidates in 17 wards. As many as 80 candidates are contesting independently. A total of 677 polling booths have been set up in the city.

Additionally, elections are also being held to the municipal councils at Bhogpur, Goraya, and Phillaur and nagar panchayats in Bilga, Shahkot and Mehatpur.

A total of 2,916 employees have been put on election duty. While 2,708 employees have been deployed in the Jalandhar city, the remaining 208 will conduct polls in the councils and nagar panchayats.

Advantage AAP in Patiala

The ruling AAP has a clear advantage in Patiala as its 15 candidates have been elected ‘unopposed’.

With a majority mark of 31 in the 60-member House, AAP needs another 16 seats to wrest control of the MC. The party has sweeped other local bodies in the district. All councillors in the Sanaur Municipal Council (15 wards), Devigarh Nagar Panchayat (13 wards) and Ghanaur Nagar Panchayat (11 wards) were elected unopposed.