MOHALI MC TO GEAR UP FOR POLLS IN 50 WARDS IN OCT

MOHALI : As the Punjab government has announced municipal corporation (MC) elections in October this year, the Mohali civic body will be gearing up for polls in 50 wards, ending speculation that the number could be increased.

The five-year term of the civic body ended on April 26 this year.

In a letter to the MC last week, the local bodies department has asked officials to submit details of the wards with population, blocks and numbering by July 30.

Though a poll date is yet to be announced, the notification says elections will be held in 50 wards with 2.36 lakh people voting, of which 25,000 belong to the scheduled caste (SC) category. Five seats have been reserved for SC candidates, two for women (SC) , three for backward classes (BC) and two for women (BC). There are 43 general category seats, of which 23 are for women and 20 for men.

Kamal Kumar, MC commissioner, said though dates were yet to be announced, it had been decided that elections would be held in 50 and reservation of candidates had been fixed.

The MC mayor is elected for a period of five years. In the last term the Congress had 14 councillors and the Shiromani Akali Dalbharatiya Janata Party and Azad group had 33 councillors and two independent councillors.

Cabinet minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said the Congress was ready for MC elections. The people of Mohali had seen development in recent years, he added.