The election campaign for Punjab’s eight Municipal Corporations and 109 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats will end on Friday (February 12) at 5 pm, amidst hectic campaigning by all the major political parties of the State.
“The election campaign would end on February 12, 2021, as per the election program announced on January 16, 2021,” said an official spokesperson of the Punjab State Election Commission on Thursday.
The spokesperson said that the required election materials and EVMs (electronic voting machines) would be hand over to the polling parties on February 13 (Saturday), while the voting will take place on February 14 (Sunday) from 8 am to 4 pm.
The voters, who would enter the booth by 4 pm, would be given a chance to cast their vote, said the spokesperson. The counting of votes would begin at the counting centers on February 17 (Wednesday) at 9 am.
The high octane campaigning has witnessed the heavyweights like Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) state unit chief and MP Bhagwant Mann along with party’s state affairs’ in-charge Jarnail Singh and co-in-charge Raghav Chadha among others toiling hard to make their party candidates win in the polls, considered to be the semi-final before the final showdown in 2022.
Being held at the time when farmers are agitating against the Centre’s three contentious farm laws since months now, the BJP candidates, along with senior leaders and workers are facing massive protests across the State by the farmers. In fact, several BJP candidates have opted to contest polls as “independents”.
In all, 9,222 candidates are in fray, with 30 percent contesting as ‘independents’. A total of 2,832 independents are in fray on 2215 wards of 117 urban local bodies (ULBs) of Punjab. While the ruling Congress party has fielded 2,037 candidates on the party symbol, AAP has fielded candidates in 1606, becoming the second party with the highest number of candidates. SAD has fielded 1569 candidates on the party symbol, with 1,003 by the BJP.
As per data available with the State Election Commission, there are a total of 39.15 lakh voters in the polls to eight Municipal Corporation for which 400 members are to be elected, and 109 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats for electing 1902 representatives. The Commission has set up 4102 polling booths across the state, besides arranging 7000 EVMs for the conduct of the polls.
FIGHT IN MUNICIPAL BODIES IS ALSO A FIGHT AGAINST CONGRESS GOONDAISM: SUKHBIR
Urging the people to support Akali Dal for development of the region alleging that the Congress Government had done nothing since last four years, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday also declared that the fight in municipal bodies is also a fight against the Congress-sponsored goodaism which must be eradicated completely.
Sukhbir, addressing ward level meetings in Jalalabad, said that all development in the town as well as Fazilka and Ferozepur districts had occurred during the chief ministership of Parkash Singh Badal. “The Congress has not only put a stop to development works but towns and cities are in shambles because even ongoing services have not been maintained,” he said.
Stating that the Congress party was now also spoiling the state’s peace, Sukhbir said: “Only today, I was approached by an old woman who told me that a goon, who was always by the side of Congress legislator Raminder Awla, has murdered her son. The woman told me that the police were not taking action in the case because the Congress leader had given express orders that the accused should not be arrested,” he said while addressing a gathering.
He said that it was because of this collapse in the law and order situation that Akali workers as well as his cavalcade were attacked when he accompanied Akali candidates to the SDM complex last week.
“Even now, Congress workers are misusing the local police as well as civil officers including food and drug inspectors and excise officials to intimidate Akali candidates and their supporters. Your fight is also against the Congress sponsored goodaism which must be eradicated completely,” he said.
“The State Election Commissioner is a mute spectator to this murder of democracy. It seems the Commissioner has decided to function like a Congress worker and is least interested in ensuring the conduct of a free and fair election.
This is the reason why none of the points raised by us – be it deployment of paramilitary forces, allowing videography in booths, and counting votes instantly have not been addressed till now,” he said, adding that we have lost all faith in the Election Commissioner and have already requested the State Governor to dismiss him.
CAPT SHOULD IMMEDIATELY RESIGN FOR MOGA POLL VIOLENCE: AAP
Seeking Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s resignation immediately for the poll violence in Moga, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Harpal Singh Cheema on Thursday minced no words to allege that the State Election Commissioner is working at the Chief Minister’s behest.
“The law and order in Punjab has been ruined and the Chief Minister is running a ‘banana republic’, giving a free hand to the goons within his own party,” said Cheema, adding that Capt Amarinder had failed to maintain law and order in the State and should resign immediately.
Stating that such incidents of violence had been repeated time and again, Cheema cited intimidation and threats to AAP candidates in Zira, snatching of nomination papers in Ferozepur, threatening and abducting party candidates in Jagraon and Sunam, among others.
“The hooliganism carried out by the Congressmen in Punjab to loot the elections has now reached to such an extent that people are now killed to prevent them from campaigning,” said Cheema adding that surprisingly, instead of taking action against the goons, Capt Amarinder was instructing them to resort to violence.
“We demand immediate resignation of Capt Amarinder for failing in maintaining law and order in the State. Captain’s shocking silence on the ensuing violence seems to tell us that he himself is guiding his goons to conduct these violent acts,” he said.
Cheema alleged that the State Election Commissioner is working on the orders of the Capt Amarinder Government, adding that the perpetrators of such hooliganism in the State would be severely punished after the formation of AAP government in Punjab.
BJP DEMANDS DEPLOYMENT OF CENTRAL SECURITY FORCES IN PUNJAB
Citing “alarmingly deteriorating law and order situation” in the run-up to the municipal elections in Punjab, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday demanded deployment of central security forces in the State.
The saffron party also demanded the annulment of election process in Ferozepur, Zira, Ajnala, and Barnala, where the nominations of candidates of BJP other parties were canceled or rejected at the behest of Congress Government and also at other wards in eight to 10 constituencies, where BJP candidates were not allowed to campaign by the Congress leaders.
The demands were made by a delegation of senior BJP leaders, led by the Union Minister of State Som Parkash, that called on Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore to apprise him of a series of heinous and criminal attacks on the BJP leaders, including state BJP president Ashwani Sharma and former Cabinet Minister Tikshan Sood.
“There have been almost two dozen incidents of violence against the BJP workers in which the police took no action and rather encouraged the anti-social elements to spread terror,” said the delegation also comprised state general secretary Dinesh Kumar, former Minister Madan Mohan Mittal, former state party chief Prof Rajinder Bhandari, state general secretary Dr Subhash Sharma, among others.
The delegation said that the BJP candidates for the forthcoming municipal elections were being intimidated and brutally assaulted all over the State.
“The police officials in Ferozepur, Mansa, and Rajpura are openly encouraging these criminal elements to terrorize and harm the BJP candidates. Earlier, they had threatened BJP candidates against filing nominations, but now they are not allowing them to campaign,” they said.
“It is a far too serious situation which demonstrates complete collapse of democratic norms and a rowdy play of criminal forces in the society,” said BJP general secretary Subhash Sharma.
The delegation also demanded that the State Election Commission must ensure that model code of conduct was followed and the erring officials were punished.
Rajinder Bhandari, interacting with the media after the meeting, alleged that the Congress has made mockery of the democracy by making Punjab police and local administration as bonded labour, who have become a mute spectator at the hands of the ruling Congress party in the state. “We have demanded to annul the election process at all those places in different Municipal Corporations or Councils, where the Congress workers have captured the entire elections process. We have urged the Governor to ask the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh about the existing law and order situation in the State,” he said.