Page 2 - Municipal Polls

BMC presents Rs 59,954.75 crore budget; 10.5% higher than last year

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India's richest civic body, on Friday presented a Rs 59,954.75 crore budget for the year 2024-25. The budgetary estimates this time are 10.5 per cent more than the 2023-24 amount of Rs 54,256.07 crore. The civic administration presented the budget to municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, who was appointed as BMC administrator by the state government after the five-year term of corporators ended in March 2022. The budget estimates for the financial year 2024-25 are proposed at Rs 59,954.75 crore, which exceeds the budget estimates of 2022-23, that is Rs 54,256.07 crore, by 10.5 per cent, said the budget document. This is the second time after 1985 that the BMC administration has presented the budget to an administrator as the five-year term of its corporators has ended.

BJP's Manoj Sonkar beats AAP-Cong candidate to win post of Chandigarh mayor

BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar on Tuesday defeated AAP's Kuldeep Kumar, who was fielded as part of an alliance with the Congress, to win the post of mayor in the Chandigarh mayoral polls. Sonkar polled 16 votes while Kumar secured 12. Eight votes were declared invalid. Councillors of INDIA bloc parties AAP and Congress protested as soon as the results were announced. From Delhi, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of "cheating". The newly elected mayor will hold the elections to the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. As part of the alliance, the AAP was contesting for the mayor's post while the Congress has fielded candidates for senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. The polls, being held following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, assume significance with opposition INDIA bloc members Congress and AAP joining hands, even though they are yet to agree on seat-sharing in Punjab. The BJP has 14 councillors in the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal ...

Cheating in broad daylight: Kejriwal reacts to BJP's victory in Chandigarh

Arvind Kejriwal said that if the BJP could 'stoop so low' in mayoral elections, it could go to any extent to win the Lok Sabha elections

Security tightened at Chandigarh Municipal office ahead of Mayoral polls

The Mayoral Elections in Chandigarh were scheduled to be held on January 18 but due to the "ill health" of the designated presiding officer, the election was postponed to February 6

Bihar municipal elections: Counting of votes for 805 posts underway

The counting of votes for 31 municipal bodies in Bihar is underway on Sunday, amid tight security arrangements, a state election commission official said. Armed police personnel have been posted at 58 centres where the counting began at 8 am for posts of ward councillors, mayors and deputy mayors, he said. Altogether 4, 431 candidates, including 2,234 women aspirants, are in the fray for the Bihar Nagar Nikay elections. Nine of them have already been declared elected unopposed. Elections to the 31 civic bodies were held on June 9. The polling took place in Patna, Buxar, Rohtas, Aurangabad, Vaishali, Nalanda, Nawada, Gopalganj, Muzaffarpur, East Champaran, West Champaran, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Kishanganj, Munger, Lakhisarai, Saharsa, Jamui and Banka districts. The State Election Commission, Bihar used a facial recognition system (FRS) for the first time to confirm voters' identities. The 31 urban local bodies include 24 where polls were not held in the last ur

Voting for 3rd phase of municipal elections underway in 21 Bihar districts

Voting for the third phase of municipal elections got underway in 21 districts of Bihar on Friday

BJP wins big in Ayodhya-Mathura-Varanasi municipal polls amid makeover

The makeover of religious cities, including Ayodhya and Mathura, along with the push to religious tourism, has already reaped rich dividends for the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh

LIVE: Terrorists open fire at security forces in Anantnag, a cop injured

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UP Municipal Election 2023: Over 19% turnout till 11 am, details here

In the first phase of the UP Municipal Election 2023, 44,232 candidates are competing, and more than 2.40 crore people are eligible to vote

Polling begins in Uttar Pradesh in 37 districts for municipal elections

Polling for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh's Municipal Corporation elections began at 7 am on Thursday amid tight security arrangements

102 candidates in the fray for 34 seats in Shimla municipal polls on May 2

A total of 102 candidates are in the fray for the May 2 Shimla Municipal Corporation polls after the last day of withdrawal of nomination papers on Friday. Polling for the 34 seats in the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) will be held on May 2, and votes will be counted on May 4. The ruling Congress and the BJP are contesting on all the wards and there is a direct contest between them in 10. The AAP and the CPI(M) have fielded candidates from 21 and four wards respectively, while nine independents, including Congress rebel and former mayor Sohan Lal who is contesting from Krishna Nagar and BJP rebel Aarti Chauhan from the Engine Ghar ward, are in the fray. The elections are being contested on party symbols and the highest number of six candidates is contesting from the Krishna Nagar ward. Triangular contests are on the cards in 12 wards. The first elections to the SMC were held in 1986 and the Congress party controlled the civic body till 2017. The BJP came to power for the first

Panel on OBC quota for municipal polls submits report to UP CM Adityanath

The five-member commission set up by the Uttar Pradesh government to look into the issue of reservation to the OBCs in urban local body elections submitted its report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday, officials said. UP Information and Public Relations Department Director Shishir told PTI that commission chairman Justice (retd) Ram Avtar Singh and other members submitted their report to the chief minister on Thursday evening. As of now, there is no information with regards to the recommendations made by the commission for providing reservation to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in urban local body elections, a senior official said. The Uttar Pradesh government had appointed the OBC commission in December last year, a day after the Allahabad High Court quashed its draft poll notification. The panel also comprised retired Indian Administrative Service officers Chaub Singh Verma and Mahendra Kumar, and former legal advisors to the state Santosh Kumar Viskarma and Brajes

Delhi mayor asks for details of ongoing, upcoming projects from departments

Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi has sought details of ongoing and upcoming projects of various MCD departments, including public health, sanitation and environment management, sources said on Tuesday. Oberoi was elected as the mayor of the city on February 22 and had taken charge on the same day. "The mayor has written to the municipal commissioner, seeking all details from various departments of the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi), about the status of ongoing works and projects, and planned projects," an official source said. Shortly after being elected as mayor, Oberoi had said the Aam Aadmi Party-led municipal corporation will carry out an inspection of landfill sites in the next three days and also work to deliver the party's 10 "guarantees" promised to the people before the December 4 MCD polls. The mayor has sought information from departments of public health, horticulture, engineering, sanitation and environment management services, and education, among others. The departme

Counting of votes begins at 68 centres across Bihar for municipal polls

Counting of votes for the Bihar municipal polls began on Friday morning amid tight security arrangements, a senior official said. Voting to seal the political fate of 11,127 candidates in 23 districts of the state had taken place on Wednesday. The counting of votes of 17 municipal corporations, including Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC), two nagar parishads and 49 nagar panchayats began at 8 am across 68 counting centers, the official of the Bihar State Election Commission said. These centers are under multi-layered security cover. The result is expected to be out in the afternoon, he said. Stray incidents of violence had marred polling for the urban local bodies in the state, with 57.17 per cent of the nearly 62 lakh voters exercising their franchise.

Uttar Pradesh Dy CM Maurya accuses SP of delaying municipal polls

He further said that SP appeared to have no faith in democratic values and also accused the party and its leaders of an anti-Dalit and anti-women mentality

Unshackling the third tier

Indifference of voters to municipal corporation elections is an outcome of a serious governance flaw that needs to be fixed

BS Number Wise: Delhi's turnout in local elections is abysmal, shows data

Municipal polling doesn't draw crowds, and that's not just in India

Delhi MCD: All you need to know about the prestige battle in the capital

The polling for the 250 seats in the Delhi Municipal Corporation was conducted on December 4, and the results will be declared on December 7

Aam Aadmi Party releases first list of 134 candidates for Delhi civic polls

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday released the first list of 134 candidates for the high-stakes Delhi civic polls. The names were announced following a long meeting of the Political Affairs Committee of the party. The list has more than 60 women candidates. Ninety per cent of the tickets have been awarded to AAP workers working at grassroots level, the party said in a statement. More than 20,000 workers had applied to get a ticket to contest the MCD polls, it said. Earlier in the day, the party had released its list of 30 star campaigners while it's national convener Arvind Kejriwal also released the party's 10 guarantees for the polls, that included clearing the three landfill sites, corruption-free MCD, among other points. The 250-ward Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) goes to polls on December 4 and the counting of votes will take place on December 7. The BJP has been in power in the MCD -- trifurcated in 2012 into north, south and east corporations and then unified this

AAP launches 'jhadu chalao' campaign in UP in run-up to the municipal polls

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has launched a new campaign called 'Gandagi Hatao, Jhadu Chalao' in a run-up to the municipal polls in Uttar Pradesh