Polling for local bodies in Punjab on May 26

Polling for 105 municipal bodies in Punjab, including eight municipal corporations, is scheduled for May 26, as announced by State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhury on Monday.

Vote counting will take place on May 29. Addressing the media, Chaudhury shared details about the elections, stating that they will occur in the following eight municipal corporations: Mohali, Bathinda, Abohar, Barnala, Kapurthala, Moga, Batala, and Pathankot.

 Additionally, elections will be held for 76 municipal councils and 21 nagar panchayats, totalling 2,019 wards across the 105 municipal bodies, he added.

With the announcement of the election schedule, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force with immediate effect, in the jurisdiction of all the municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats where the elections are to going to be held. It will remain in force till the completion of the electoral process.

Chaudhury noted that there are 3,672,932 registered voters for these municipal bodies, which include 1,773,716 women. Polling will occur across 3,977 stations, operating from 8 am to 5 pm.

Sharing details of the election schedule, Chaudhury said the filing of nominations will begin on May 13, with the last date for nominations set for May 16.

Nomination papers will be accepted in the offices of the concerned returning officers between 11 am and 3 pm.

Scrutiny of papers will take place on May 18, and the final date for withdrawal of nominations is May 19. All nomination forms are to be accompanied by the prescribed affidavit, and in case a candidate is sponsored by a political party, then by the authorisation letter of the concerned political party.

Know your candidate (KYC) details of candidates will also be uploaded on district websites, he informed.

The expenditure limit notified by the commission for a candidate contesting for the post of municipal corporation is Rs 4 lakh, municipal councils for Class I is Rs 3.60 lakh, Class II is Rs 2.30 lakh, Class III is Rs 2 lakh and for nagar panchayat is Rs 1.40 lakh. About 36,000 election personnel and 35,500 police personnel will be deputed on election duty. IAS and PCS officers will be appointed in each district as observers so as to ensure proper monitoring.

He said the Commission has made all the arrangements to conduct the elections in a fair, free and peaceful manner.

SAD fully prepared to contest upcoming civic polls in Punjab: Badal Chandigarh, May 11 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday said his party is fully prepared to contest upcoming elections for the municipal bodies in Punjab.

The State Election Commission announced that polling for 105 municipal bodies including eight municipal corporations will be held on May 26. The counting of votes will take place on May 29.

"The Shiromani Akali Dal is fully prepared to contest the forthcoming municipal corporations/councils elections. We will fight every single seat on our party symbol," Badal said while speaking to reporters after party’s core committee meeting here.

The elections will be held in eight municipal corporations -- ?Mohali, Bathinda, Abohar, Barnala, Kapurthala, Moga, Batala and Pathankot. Besides, polling will also be held for 76 municipal councils and 21 Nagar Panchayats.

On the Enforcement Directorate’s action against Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora, the SAD chief slammed the Bhagwant Mann government for not sacking him yet from the Cabinet.

"Despite serious allegations, he is not being removed from the Cabinet because he has threatened to spill the beans on how he collected money bags for Arvind Kejriwal and even sent it abroad through hawala transactions," he alleged.

The ED on Saturday arrested Industries Minister Arora in connection with an alleged Rs 100 crore GST fraud-linked money laundering case involving certain entities linked to him.

Arora, 62, was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act following raids conducted at his official residence in Chandigarh’s Sector 2 on Saturday morning.

While AAP dubbed the ED raid at Arora’s residence and his subsequent arrest as "politically motivated", Hampton Sky Realty Limited, at which the Punjab minister served as a director, said the company has faith in the legal process and is fully cooperating with all the statutory authorities.