State Election Commissioner Devinder Singh Kalyan on Monday announced the poll schedule for three municipal corporations — Panchkula, Ambala and Sonepat — along with the Rewari Municipal Council and three municipal committees: Sampla, Dharuhera and Uklana.
Additionally, by-elections will be held for six vacant ward member seats in the municipal councils/committees of Tohana, Jhajjar, Rajound, Tarawadi, Kanina, and Sadhaura.
Under the Panchayati Raj Institutions, general elections will be held in the gram panchayats of Mandi Adampur and Jawahar Nagar in Hisar, and in Govindpura and Polad in Kaithal.
The by-elections will be conducted for 528 vacant posts (including panch, sarpanch, panchayat samiti, and zila parishad members) across the state.
Voting will take place on May 10, from 8 am to 6 pm. Counting for municipal bodies will start at 8 am on May 13, while for panchayat bodies, counting will start after the polling.
Model Code of Conduct comes into force
With the announcement, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force from April 13, and transfers of employees in the concerned areas have been restricted until the election process is completed.
Candidates can file nominations between April 21 and 25
The returning officers will issue the notice for nominations on April 15. Candidates can file their nomination papers between April 21 and April 25, from 11 am to 3 pm.
The scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 27, and candidates can withdraw their nominations until 3 pm on April 28, after which election symbols will be allotted.
Clarifying eligibility criteria, the commission stated that for the posts of municipal corporation mayors and municipal council/committee presidents, candidates from general and backward classes must have passed Class 10, while women and Scheduled Caste candidates must have passed Class 8.
Mayor spending limit set at Rs 30 lakh; members at Rs 7.5 Lakh
The expenditure limits have also been prescribed. The maximum limit is Rs 30 lakh for Municipal Corporation mayors and Rs 7.50 lakh for members. In Panchayati Raj, the limit is Rs 2 lakh for sarpanch and Rs 6 lakh for Zila Parishad members.
The voters will also have the option of NOTA (None of the Above).
There are 20 wards in each of the Ambala and Panchkula Municipal Corporations, with elector populations of 1.98 lakh and 2.07 lakh, respectively.
In Sonepat, there are 22 wards, and the population of electors is 2.96 lakh.
There are 32 wards in Rewari, with a voter strength of 1.15 lakh. In Uklana and Sampla, there are 16 wards each, with elector populations of 15,449 and 15,624, respectively. In Dharuhera, there are 18 wards with a voter population of 23,224.
If a re-poll becomes necessary, it will be conducted on May 12, and the results will be declared on May 13.
Congress vs BJP set for direct contest; LPG crisis, civic issues key poll issues
The main contest is expected between the Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Both parties have already announced to contest the polls on their party symbols.
LPG crisis and local issues are likely to dominate the urban local body polls.
In Panchkula, allegations related to the Rs 150-crore Kotak Mahindra Bank scam and Rs 590-crore IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank scam are also likely to dominate as well. In both these scams, the funds of Municipal Corporation Panchkula are involved.
There are 20 wards each in Panchkula and Ambala, and 22 in Sonepat. The posts of mayors in Panchkula and Sonepat are unreserved, while in Ambala, the post of mayor is reserved for a Backward Class (B) woman.
Besides, these Municipal Corporations, elections will also be held for the Municipal Council, Rewari, where the post of President is reserved for a Scheduled Caste woman. The Rewari Municipal Council has 32 wards.
Elections will also be held for the Municipal Committees of Uklana (Hisar), Dharuhera ( Rewari), and Sampla (Rohtak), each comprising 16 wards. The post of President is unreserved in Sampla and Dharuhera, while in Uklana it is reserved for a woman candidate.
