Ambala Sadar set to get into election mode again

With the publication of final notification for the delimitation of the wards of the Municipal Council, the Sadar area of Ambala Cantonment is set to get into the election mode once again.

The term of the previous House completed in July 2018 and in 2019 the Municipal Corporation was bifurcated into Ambala Municipal Corporation and Municipal Council Ambala Sadar. Though the wards were reserved earlier a couple of times, the process came to a halt after lacunae were pointed out.

There will be 32 wards in the new House of the Ambala Sadar against nine wards, when it was part of Ambala Municipal Corporation in the last tenure. Over 1,75 lakh people are eligible to elect the new House of the Municipal Council.

Indian National Lok Dal leader Onkar Singh said, “The Municipal Council was separated in 2019 and the election should have been conducted by 2020. There is a delay of more than four years already and with no elected representatives residents have been facing difficulties in raising local issues. Only the ward representatives can raise the issues of their wards effectively. The INLD will field its candidates in the election and the election should be conducted soon.”

Congress leader Parvinder Singh said, “The status of the Ambala Sadar area was degraded to Municipal Council after it was separated from Municipal Corporation, Ambala. We were hopeful that the government will again make it Municipal Corporation but unfortunately it was not done. We will request the government to complete the entire process at the earliest and get the election conducted so that the development works are executed in a better manner.”

Former member of the House, Onkarnath Pruthi, who was a member of the five-member ad-hoc committee formed for delimitation of wards, said, “The government has issued the final notification and the election are set to be held next year. This will help the residents in getting their issues resolved easily as in the absence of the local representatives, all wards don’t get due attention and the development works are also affected.”

Former councillor Chitra Sarwara, said, “The same exercise has been done in the past too. Everything looks good in the delimitation map but the real picture will be clear after the final voter list is released. There were several discrepancies in the previous voter list following which we had raised objection. We are waiting of the final voter list and a fair election should be conducted by the government.”

Meanwhile BJP leader, Rajiv Gupta, said “The election got delayed because of the opposition parties approaching the High Court. The BJP is ready for the election and our candidates will register win in the municipal election.”

Meanwhile, Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Ambala Cantonment Satinder Siwach, who also holds the charge of administrator of the Municipal Council, said “Latest delimitation notification has been issued by the government on December 5, and the further process has been initiated. Draw of lots for the reservation of the wards is to be done at the headquarter level. After the publication of final electoral roll next month, the dates for election will be announced. About 170 booths will be setup for the elections.”