4,489 nominations received: Poll panel

The State Election Commission today said a total of 4,489 nominations had been received for the five municipal corporations, 44 municipal councils/ nagar panchayats and bypolls to 49 wards of civic bodies.

Today was the last day to file nominations. The last date of withdrawal of nominations is December 14. The candidates would get seven days for campaigning. The elections would be held on December 21.

Though paper ballots were used in the recently held panchayat elections, electronic voting machines (EVMs) would be used in civic body elections.

These urban civic elections have been due since early 2023, when the five-year term of four municipal corporations — Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala — ended. The elections to the Phagwara Municipal Corporation were due since 2020.

The voting will be held from 7 am to 4 pm.

The expenditure limit for candidates contesting the polls has been fixed. “For corporations, the expenditure limit has been fixed at Rs 4 lakh. For councils, it is between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3.6 lakh. For nagar panchayats, it is Rs 1.4 lakh,” said State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhuri.