Voting today, over 3k candidates in fray
Hindustan Times Punjab|December 21, 2024
With AAP, Congress, BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal vying to outdo each other, the municipal elections in Punjab are set to witness a multi-cornered contest, the polling for which will take place on Saturday. The Punjab government on Friday has notified December 21 (Saturday) as a public holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 on account of civic body polls.
Tarsem Singh Deogan

CHANDIGARH:

Polling will be held for five municipal corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Phagwara, 44 municipal councils and nagar panchayats from 7 am till 4 pm. Counting will be held on the same day, said officials.

Electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be used for the voting, they said.

As many as 3,336 candidates are in the fray for the civic polls, said officials, adding that there will be 3,809 polling booths.

The municipal corporations of Amritsar and Jalandhar have 85 wards each, while Ludhiana, Patiala and Phagwara have 95, 60 and 50 wards, respectively. There are 598 wards of municipal councils and nagar panchayats.

The civic polls will be a litmus test for the ruling AAP, which would want to continue its winning momentum after winning three of the four assembly bypolls in November. The stakes will also be high for the Congress. It had a majority in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala municipal corporations.

The Congress had accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of "misusing" the state machinery to forcefully stop the opposition candidates from filing the nomination papers for the polls.

It had also targeted AAP over the alleged deteriorating law and order issue. Prestige will also be at stake for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is fighting the MC polls solo.

The Shiromani Akali Dal is also trying its luck in these polls.

The party did not contest the November bypolls to four assembly segments after its leader Sukhbir Singh Badal was declared 'tankhaiya' (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht for "mistakes" made by the SAD and its government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017.

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government on Friday deferred civic body polls in 15 places-seven wards in Patiala municipal corporation and eight wards in Dharamkot municipal council in Moga scheduled for Saturday, after Punjab and Haryana court intervention.

This story is from the December 21, 2024 edition of Hindustan Times Punjab.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the December 21, 2024 edition of Hindustan Times Punjab.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM HINDUSTAN TIMES PUNJABView All
Hindustan Times Punjab

Rahi trigger happy again after neuro-muscular memory loss

A harrowing spell of neuropathic pain behind her, the pistol ace finds her way back into competition

time-read
3 mins  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Punjab

1st women's ODI: In-form India hold all aces vs WI

India will be eager to exploit their recent form and a historical advantage to subdue West Indies in the three-match women's ODI series, beginning here with the first contest on Sunday.

time-read
1 min  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Punjab

Crowd pleaser Pant needs to rediscover himself again

The enforcer at No.5 is yet to get going and the visitors will hope he has the same impact Head has had with the Aussies

time-read
3 mins  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Punjab

Ashwin and Jadeja: A pair broken up after 12 seasons

It seemed odd to hear Ravindra Jadeja talk about R Ashwin in the past tense.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Punjab

Israeli spyware maker NSO found liable in hacking lawsuit

In a significant first, a California court has found Israeli spyware maker NSO Group liable for hacking WhatsApp's servers in a lawsuit filed by the Meta-owned platform in 2019.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Punjab

ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES KILL AT LEAST 25 PALESTINIANS IN GAZA, MEDICS SAY

US President Joe Biden signed a funding bill on Saturday, averting a Christmas-time government shutdown after negotiations in Congress went down to the wire overnight.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Punjab

Man ploughs through German market, kills 5

Describing himself as a former Muslim, the suspect shared dozens of tweets and retweets daily focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticising the religion

time-read
3 mins  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Punjab

Hero worship gone wrong

Pushpa 2: The Rule, the most successful film of 2024, is built around a man who ravages nature, and appears to care only for himself

time-read
2 mins  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Punjab

NORTHEAST IS NOW THE MOST LUCRATIVE PLACE FOR INVESTMENT, MANUFACTURING, SAYS AMIT SHAH

NORTHEAST IS NOW THE MOST LUCRATIVE PLACE FOR INVESTMENT, MANUFACTURING, SAYS AMIT SHAH

time-read
2 mins  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Punjab

Building the future vs remaking the past

Learn from history for sure, but one of the lessons to be learnt is that campaigns to rearrange the past could injure the present

time-read
4 mins  |
December 22, 2024