Campaigning for civic body elections ends, polling tomorrow
As many as 3,336 candidates are set to battle it out in the civic polls scheduled to be held in the state on December 21. Elections will be held to five municipal corporations, 41 municipal councils, nagar panchayats and vacant seats in other civic bodies. The campaigning for the elections ended today.
The Amritsar and Jalandhar MCs have 85 wards each, Ludhiana has 95, Patiala 60 and Phagwara 50.
The ruling AAP is seeing these polls, which are being fought on party symbols, as an ideal opportunity to wrest control of all major municipal corporations. Other parties, including Congress, BJP and SAD, are crying foul over alleged abuse of official machinery by the ruling party, alleging that their candidates were prevented from filing nomination papers.
Shops, factories closed on Dec 21
December 21 will be a ‘close day’ for shops, factories and commercial establishments within the jurisdiction of the civic bodies going to the polls so that workers can cast their votes
It will be a holiday in all schools where buildings are being used for poll purpose
Government employees and workers, who are voters of these municipal bodies but posted elsewhere, will get special leave to exercise their franchise
The day of polling will be a ‘Dry Day’ in the revenue jurisdiction of the municipal bodies going to polls
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjabi University Patiala, and Panjab University, Chandigarh, have postponed all exams scheduled for December 21
SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said, “After panchayat polls, AAP had set a new low by allegedly abusing official machinery to reject or tear the nomination papers of a number of candidates.”
BJP leader Vineet Joshi said, “Amid the alleged abuse of the government machinery, 921 nominations have been filed by our party candidates.”
Even as Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, along with other senior party leaders in the state, have held back-to-back to rallies in Amritsar, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala besides other places in the past two days, the AAP faces voters’ ire for poor civic amenities, unfulfilled promises on waste management and infrastructure upgrade.
With the AAP government nearing three years of its five-year term, the elections are crucial as these would reflect the popularity of the party among urban voters. Trying to ride on anti-incumbency, the Opposition parties are flagging the alleged abuse of power first in the panchayat polls and now in the civic body polIs and deteriorating” law and order situation in the state. The polls are being seen as mainly a fight between AAP and the Congress. The ruling party is aiming to wrest control of the MCs in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala, where the Congress is in majority.
After being elected as state AAP president, it would be the first test for Aman Arora, a prominent Hindu face of the party. The elections are equally crucial for PPCC chief Amarinder Raja Warring, as these are being held for the first time after he became Ludhiana MP.
