Fully enthused, residents of 13 merged Chandigarh villages vote for 1st time

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 24

Brimming with enthusiasm, residents of 13 villages turned out in large numbers to cast their votes for the first time in the Municipal Corporation (MC) election with a hope to get better services, on a par with their urban brethren.

The 13 villages, including Behlana, Raipur Khurd, Raipur Kalan, Makhan Majra, Daria, Mauli Jagran, Kishangarh, Kaimbwala, Khuda Ali Sher, Khuda Jassu, Khuda Lahora, Sarangpur and Dhanas, had merged with the MC after the term of their panchayats ended in January 2019. These villages have a population of more than 50,000.

The Ward No. 1 comprising Kaimbwala, Khuda Ali Sher, Khuda Jassu and Khuda Lahora villages and Khuda Lahora Colony witnessed 71.95 per cent polling. Similar pattern was reported from Ward No. 8 consisting of Mauli Jagran, Raipur Kalan, Raipur Khurd and Makhan Majra villages where polling was 68.86 per cent.

Meanwhile, 71.48 per cent polling was witnessed in Ward No. 15 comprising Sarangpur village and the Rehabilitation Colony, Dhanas.

Radhe Shyam, (47), a resident of Kishangarh village, said, “After the election, we want the councillor to raise our issues at an appropriate platform and also get them resolved at the earliest.”

Manjeet Singh of Khuda Lahora said he was looking forward to getting things streamlined for the village under the new system. He said they now wanted that the issue of regularisation of constructions outside the ‘lal dora’ should be resolved as the earliest. “After the merger of the villages with the MC, the ‘lal dora’ should not have any significance and it should be abolished as done by many state governments,” he said.

With the merger of the 13 villages, the numbers of wards of the MC have increased from 26 to 35. Earlier, only nine out of 22 villages in the city were under the jurisdiction of the civic body.

Coming out of a polling booth after casting her vote, Rajmeet Kaur of Daria village said they hope for timely recarpeting of roads, improvement in water supply and better sanitation in the villages.

Groom votes

A groom, Constable Navjeevan of the Punjab Police, exercised his right to vote at a polling station in Khuda Ali Sher. “It’s my wedding today. First, I will vote and then my barat will go to Phagwara. Every vote counts, so I would tell people to make sure they go and vote,” he said.