‘Jalandhar, Amritsar MC polls in Dec, Ludhiana will have to wait’

LUDHIANA : With ward delimitation in the city not finalised yet, elections to the municipal corporation House will not be held in December and will take place with a delay from polls in other civic bodies in the state, local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has said. The term of the previous House had ended in September.

“Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh will soon announce election dates for other municipal corporations/councils (except Ludhiana). In Ludhiana, we are working on ward delimitation,” Sidhu told HT.

“Polls for MC Jalandhar, MC Amritsar, MC Patiala and other municipal councils in the state will be held in December itself,” he added. Ludhiana MC commissioner Jaskiran Singh also said the MC had not received the draft notification for ward delimitation.

Meanwhile, sources said elections were being delayed as some Congress MLAs want the government to start work or complete development projects for which Rs 137 crore had been sanctioned in mid-October. These MLAs had also visited Chandigarh on Friday to meet senior officials, including minister Sidhu. HT tried to contact MLA MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu and MLA Sanjay Talwar, but they did not respond.

Previously, Lok Insaaf Party MLAs, Bains brothers — Simarjeet and Balwinder — had also objected to the draft notification for ward delimitation that the local bodies department had drawn up. They had even threatened to move court. Following this, the department had started re-verification of population in different wards of the city.

Meanwhile, two other Congress MLAs, on request of anonymity, said, elections to the city’s House should be held simultaneously with elections of civic bodies in other cities. “Delaying Ludhiana MC elections will reflect badly on the local leadership,” they said.

CHIEF MINISTER WILL SOON ANNOUNCE ELECTION DATES FOR CORPORATIONS, SAYS NAVJOT SIDHU