Punjab Municipal Elections 2021 LIVE Updates: Polling underway for 117 urban local bodies; 9,222 candidates in fray – Politics News , Firstpost

Representative image. PTI

Punjab Municipal Elections 2021 Latest Updates: Voting is ongoing for the civic body elections in Punjab, PTI reports, citing officials. Voting began at 8 a.m. Sunday and will continue until 4 p.m., they said.

Of the total of 9,222 candidates in the fray, 2,832 are running as independents, 2,037 are from the ruling Congress and 1,569 from the Akali Dal. The BJP, which faces great tension over the new bills, has put up 1,003 candidates. The Aam Aadmi Party and the BSP have submitted 1,606 and 160 candidates respectively.

Voting for the elections of eight municipal corporations from Abohar, Bathinda, Batala, Kapurthala, Mohali, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot and Moga and 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats in Punjab will take place from 8 am to 4 pm.

A total of 9,222 candidates are in the fray for 2,302 districts. Of the total of candidates, 2,832 are competing as independents, 2,037 are from the Congress in power and 1,569 from the Akali Dal. The number of candidates for the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Aam Aadmi Party and the BSP is 1,003, 1,606 and 160 respectively.

All arrangements are in place for the civic body elections, an official spokesman for the State Election Commission said on Saturday.

The official spokesperson for the State Elections Commission said that it has installed 4,102 polling stations and of which 1,708 have been declared sensitive and 861 hypersensitive.

The spokesperson said that any voter who enters the polling station before 4 pm will have the right to vote. The vote count will take place on February 17.

The State Elections Commission has also announced February 14 and 17 as dry days.

Around 7,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs) have been deployed to vote. A total of 25,010 employees have also been delegated. About 19,000 police officers have been assigned to hold free and fair elections, the spokesman said.

There are 20,49,777 male voters, 18,65,354 women and 149 transsexuals, for a total of 39,15,280 registered voters in the state of Punjab for civic elections. A total of 30 IAS or PCS officials have been designated as observers to hold free and fair elections, the spokesperson said.

In these elections, 50 percent of the seats have been reserved for women.

All major political parties had vigorously polled during the campaign for civic body elections in the state that will see the Assembly elections next year.

Several Punjab ministers, including Manpreet Singh Badal and Balbir Singh Sidhu, had applied for the congressional nominees. The SAD and the BJP are fighting these elections separately after the former withdrew from the National Democratic Alliance over the issue of farm laws last year.

SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and other party leaders campaigned for their party’s candidates. BJP leaders and candidates had faced farmers’ protest during a campaign with the saffron party accusing Congress of unleashing “vandalism” disguised as farmers.

Several high-ranking AAP leaders, including Raghav Chadha, had toured various parts of the state and sought votes for nominees from the main opposition party in Punjab.

The Opposition had accused Congress of “misusing” the government machinery to win these elections, an accusation denied by the ruling party.