MC polls: Campaigning ends after rallies, voting on Dec 21
The high-decibel campaigning for the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (MC) elections came to an end at 4 pm today. Voting for the elections is scheduled for December 21 from 7 am to 4 pm. Results are expected to start trickling in within an hour of end of the polling.
Today, various political parties, including the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) organised rallies in the city. Senior party leaders attended all rallies.
Apart from others, former MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu, Congress leader Kulbeer Singh Zira, former MP Jasbir Singh Dimpa, Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, former Deputy CM OP Soni, BJP national secretary Tarun Chug and Member of Parliament Gurjeet Singh Aujla organised political rallies in favour of their candidates here today.
Leaders of the AAP, the Congress and the BJP are claiming victory of their respective parties in the civic body polls. Congress leaders claimed that they would win more than 65 MC seats in the city. AAP leaders claimed that Mayor would be from their party. As per tradition, the party in power in Punjab wins the MC elections in the holy city. However, the elections are being conducted around two years after the formation of the AAP government in Punjab. There is a major anti-incumbency factor against the ruling dispensation in the state.
During his road show in Amritsar, BJP leader Tarun Chug said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann made false claims that his party had fulfilled poll promises. Navjot Kaur Sidhu, while campaigning for Congress candidate Shalinder Singh Shally, said people felt betrayed after electing the AAP government in the state.
With 85 wards in the Municipal Corporation and five MLAs in the city, the total number of electors for the Mayor’s post is 90. The mayor, senior deputy mayor, and deputy mayor would be from the party which has majority in the MC House. The AAP already has five MLAs in the city. If the AAP wins in 41 wards out of 85, it could secure the mayor’s post. Other parties, however, need 46 councillors to get their candidate elected as mayor.
