About 47 per cent of over 51 lakh eligible voters cast their vote in the civic body elections in Haryana on Sunday. With the beginning of polling at 8 am, voters in large numbers were seen standing in a queue to cast their votes at various polling stations in the poll bound civic bodies of the State. Haryana State Election Commissioner Dhanpat Singh said that elections to various Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Municipalities of the state were conducted peacefully. At some places, people were seen standing in queue even after the deadline of 6 pm, who were given time to vote.
The counting of votes will start at 8 am on March 12 and results will also be declared on the same day. There is no news of any violence or untoward incident from anywhere, he added.
The State Election Commissioner further said that voting was held for the posts of Mayor and Ward Members in Municipal Corporations Manesar, Gurugram, Faridabad, Hisar, Rohtak, Karnal and Yamunanagar. Along with this, voting was held for the by-election for the post of Mayor in Municipal Corporations Ambala and Sonipat. The voting was also held for the posts of pradhan (president) and ward members in Municipal Councils Ambala Sadar, Pataudi-Jatauli Mandi, Thanesar and Sirsa and for the by-election for the post of pradhan (president) in Municipal Council Sohna.
The extensive arrangements were made by the Commission to conduct the urban local body elections in a peaceful, fair, and transparent manner. General, police and expenditure observers were appointed in the electoral process. Along with this, duty magistrates, supervisors, presiding officers, polling officers were appointed in all the concerned bodies. Adequate police force was deployed for security and additional police force was deployed at sensitive and highly sensitive polling stations. A control room was also set up in the Nirvachan Sadan to monitor the proper electoral process. There were a total of 51,06,134 voters in all these institutions.
Moreover, in the by-election for the Mayor, less enthusiasm was seen among the voters in Ambala Municipal Corporation and Sonipat Municipal Corporation. Similarly, the voting percentage was very low in two metropolitan cities adjacent to Delhi; Municipal Corporation, Faridabad and Municipal Corporation, Gurugram.
A snag was encountered in an EVM machine at a polling booth in Ward 5 of Gurugram Municipal Corporation, which delayed the voting process by one hour. A new machine was brought in after which the voting process began smoothly.
A drunken man came to cast his vote at a polling booth in the Saray Alarwadi area of Gurugram. The polling staff allowed him to cast his vote but he started creating a ruckus thereafter, insisting on casting his vote again. The drama persisted for 10-15 minutes. The polling staff had to call the police to usher him out of the booth.
After casting the votes in Ambala, Haryana Minister Anil Vij said: “This is the biggest festival of democracy. We should all participate in this. Step out and spend a little time celebrating this festival.”
At 19.4 percent, Sonepat district was trailing in voter turnout at 3.30 pm, according to data released by the state election officials; while 31.2 percent of the electorate have cast their vote for the municipal elections to five civic bodies in Gurugram district till 3 pm. By 2:30 pm, Fatehabad witnessed a massive 67.1 per cent turnout, followed by Mahendragarh at 61.1 per cent, Palwal at 57.5 per cent and Kaithal at 56.5 per cent.
An EVM was replaced in sensitive booth number-8 at government school in Beri town here for Beri Municipal Committee polls after someone applied ink on it while casting his or her vote. Later DC Pradeep Dahiya also inspected the booth and takes stock of the situation. A considerable number of personnel has been deployed there due to the booth being sensitive.
Union Minister and former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar cast his vote at a booth in Prem Nagar and urged people to actively participate in the democratic process. He also took to social media platform X to appeal to voters, sharing a message: “My vote is for a prosperous Karnal. Today, I exercised my voting right in Karnal for the local body elections. I appeal to all of you to actively participate in this festival of democracy and cast your vote.”
Furthermore, the State Election Commissioner Singh said that voting will be held in the Municipal Corporation Panipat on March 9. The counting of votes for the elections of Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Municipalities and the elections for Panipat Municipal Corporation will be done simultaneously on March 12 and the election results will also be declared on the same day.
In Punjab, Municipal Councils of Tarn Taran, Dera Baba Nanak, Talwara witnesses 54.06%, 73.50%, 61.31 % voting
Chandigarh: The general elections to Punjab’s three Municipal Councils of Tarn Taran (in Tarn Taran district), Dera Baba Nanak (Gurdaspur district) and Talwara (Hoshiarpur district) were conducted on Sunday in a peaceful manner.
Tarn Taran witnessed 54.06 percent voter turnout, while Dera Baba Nanak recorded 73.50 percent, and Talwara registered 61.31 percent turnout, as reported by respective District Election Officers, said an official spokesperson of the Punjab State Election Commission.
Spokesperson informed that a re-poll for Ward No 3 of Tarn Taran Municipal Council has been ordered to be held on March 4, 2025 from 7 am to 4 pm followed by counting of votes on the same day. In this regard, Deputy Commissioner-cum-DEO, Tarn Taran has been directed to make all the necessary arrangements.
