Civic body election date likely this week

The AAP government is bracing for the announcement of urban civic body elections and imposition of the model code of conduct this week.

Notwithstanding the postponement sought by the SGPC and the SAD, the elections to five Municipal Corporations and 44 Municipal Councils, besides 49 byelections, will be held at the end of the month. The polls, however, will not coincide with the Shaheedi Week to be observed in the fourth week of this month (December 25-27).

It may be mentioned that the notification for the conduct of the urban civic polls was issued on November 22.

Top sources in the government have told The Tribune that the elections would be announced by the end of the week. State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhary told The Tribune that preparations were in full swing to start the election process. “The commission is examining the suitable dates, so that these do not coincide with the observation of the martyrdom week,” he said.

Today, Punjab AAP president Aman Arora also appealed to the State Election Commission to ensure that the election dates do not coincide with the observation of the Shaheedi Week.

“The party is all geared up for the election, but keeping in mind the religious and emotional sentiments of people, we have urged the commission to hold the elections after the Shaheedi Week. In the meantime, we have divided the corporations and councils that will go to polls in 11 zones, with a minister or Member of Parliament being in-charge of each zone, to decide on the election strategy and campaign. The selection of candidates has also started, with preference being given to old party workers,” he told The Tribune.

The ruling AAP government had last month released funds to each of the five corporations that will go to the polls — Amritsar, Jalandhar, Phagwara, Ludhiana and Patiala. Before the elections, these funds are being quickly used to repair/maintain civic amenities, based on the feedback received from the party’s poll strategy team that reports to Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak.