Polling for 117 urban local bodies, including eight municipal corporations in Punjab, started on Sunday morning, PTI reported. A total of 9...
Polling for 117 urban local bodies, including eight municipal corporations in Punjab, started on Sunday morning, PTI reported. A total of 9,222 candidates are in the fray for elections to 2,302 wards of the eight municipal corporations of Abohar, Bathinda Batala, Kapurthala, Mohali, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot and Moga and 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats in the state.
The voting will be held from 8 am to 4 pm through electronic voting machines, while the counting of votes will take place on February 17.
The polls hold greater significance amid the farmers’ agitation against the new agriculture laws, as majority of the protestors belong to Punjab. Tens of thousands of farmers have been camping out on the outskirts of New Delhi for more than two months for withdrawal of the legislations, which they say will benefit corporate sector at their expense.
Special security cover has been provided to Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and candidates in some sensitive areas on a temporary basis, as a precaution to them facing public anger due to the crisis, according to the Hindustan Times. The BJP is contesting the polls without its long-time ally in the state, Shiromani Akali Dal, which broke ties with the National Democratic Alliance in September last year due to differences on the contentious laws.
Sunil Jakhar,...
