Arrangements in place as 117 Punjab civic bodies go to polls today
9,222 candidates in the fray from 109 municipal councils and 8 corporations; 18,000 cops deployed
CHANDIGARH : The polling for 117 urban local bodies, including eight high-stake municipal corporations, will be held in Punjab on Sunday with 9,222 candidates in the fray. Tight security arrangements are place as nearly 18,000 police personnel have been deployed to conduct free and fair elections, senior officials said. The voting will take place from 8am to 4pm through electronic voting machines.
CHANDIGARH : Polling for 117 urban local bodies, including eight high-stake municipal corporations, will be held in Punjab on Sunday with 9,222 candidates in the fray.
Tight security arrangements are place as nearly 18,000 police personnel have been deployed to conduct free and fair elections, senior officials said. The voting will take place from 8am to 4pm through electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Keeping in view the incidents of violence during the election campaigning in various civic bodies, the state election commission has instructed the police to keep an extra vigil at sensitive polling stations.
Special security cover, though temporary, has been provided to the BJP leaders and candidates in some sensitive areas as the party is facing anger of the farmer unions in the wake of protests. Of the 2,569 polling stations declared and sensitive (1,708) and hyper-sensitive (861), most are in the Majha and Malwa regions.
In the municipal corporations and A and B-grade councils, 2,037 candidates of the Congress, 1,606 of the principal opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), 1,569 of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and 1,003 nominees of the BJP are in the fray. Elections at the C-level councils are being held without party symbols.
Even as the electioneering ended on Friday evening, the parties were seen making lastditch attempts to woo the voters even on Saturday with the candidates and their supporters trying to reach out to residents through door-to-door canvassing.
The state election commission’s official spokesperson said 30 IAS/PCS officers have been deputed as poll observers. Also, the commission has deputed IG/ DIG-rank officers, including Mukhwinder Singh Chinna for SAS Nagar, Rupnagar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts; Surjit Singh for Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts; Baljit Singh Rathore for Bathinda, Mansa and Faridkot districts; Surinder Kumar Kalia for Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and SBS Nagar districts, as police observers. Harbaz Singh is observer for Ferozepur, Muktsar, Moga and Fazilka while Gurinder Singh Dhillon is deputed as one for Patiala, Ludhiana, Barnala and Sangrur districts, said the official spokesperson. “More than 20,500 employees are on election duty.
“Only those who enter the polling station before 4pm can cast their vote. February 14 and 17 have been declared as dry days. The counting of votes will start at 9 am on February 17,” he added.