Elections to three municipal corporations, and 32 municipal councils and nagar panchayats in Punjab would take place on December 17, a senior election official said today.
This would also be for the first time that voters would be able to exercise the 'None of The Above' option in a civic body poll in the state.
"The polling for three municipal corporations (MCs) in Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala and 32 municipal councils/ nagar panchayats will take place on December 17," State Election Commissioner (SEC) Jagpal Singh Sandhu told reporters here.
He said that voting would start at 8 am and continue till 4 pm. "Counting of votes will also be held on December 17 and results will be declared on the same day," Sandhu said.
The SEC said that the Code of Conduct has come into effect and would remain in place till December 20 in areas falling under the civic bodies going to polls.
The official said that 26 observers have been appointed to looking into grievances of people and ensure the peaceful conduct of the polls.
"We will ensure free and fair polls," Sandhu said, adding that the Punjab government had notified that polling should take place before December 22.
Filing of nomination papers would start after the notification is issued on December 2.
"Nominations can be filed till December 6 while scrutiny of the documents of nomination will take place on December 7. Nominations can be withdrawn by December 8 which is also the date for allotting the election symbols to the candidates," Sandhu said.
The SEC said that EVMs except VVPAT will be used for polling. "There will be around 3,200 polling stations and we will have around 4,000 EVMs ready," he said.
There will be 50 per cent reservation for women candidates in the civic bodies polls, Sandhu said.
He said that the Patiala, Jalandhar and Amritsar MCs have 60, 80 and 85 wards respectively.
"Six, seven and eight sub-divisional magistrate-level returning officers will be appointed for Patiala, Jalandhar and Amritsar MC polls respectively," he said.
The SEC said that the ceiling of poll expenditure for municipal corporations has been increased from Rs 2.07 lakh to Rs 2.50 lakh per candidate.
In case of municipal councils, the limit on expenditure for class I, II and III municipal committees have been hiked from Rs 1.84 lakh to Rs 2.25 lakh, from Rs 1.15 lakh to Rs 1.40 lakh and Rs 98,000 to Rs 1.20 lakh respectively, he said.
For nagar panchayats, the limit on poll expenses has been raised from Rs 69,000 to Rs 85,000.
Sandhu said that anybody who is eligible to vote can apply for the same till December 6.
Director General of Police V K Bhawra has been appointed as the nodal officer for ensuring security and law and order during polls, the SEC said.
The 32 municipal councils and nagar panchayats where voting would take place are Rajasansi (Amritsar), Handiaya (Barnala), Amloh (Fatehgarh Sahib), Mallanwala Khas and Makhu (Ferozepur), Bhogpur, Shahkot, Goraya and Bilga (Jalandhar), and Dhilwan, Begowal and Bhulath (Kapurthala),
Besides, Machhiwara and Mullanpur Dakha, Maloud and Sahnewal (Ludhiana), Baghapurana, Dharamkot and Panjtoor (Moga), Bariwala (Muktsar), Ghagga and Ghanour (Patiala), Narot Jaimal Singh (Pathankot), Dirba, Cheema, Ghanouri and Moonak (Sangrur), Khemkaran (Tarntaran), Bhikhi (Mansa), Balachaur (SBS Nagar), Talwandi Sabo(Bathinda) and Mahilpur (Hoshiarpur).
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