Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, December 15: The process of voting to elect representatives to 3 Municipal Corporations and 29 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats would begin on 17th December, 2017 on 8 AM and last till 4 PM.
Disclosing this, a spokesman of the State Election Commission said that the polls would be held in respect of 222 wards out of 225 wards of 3 Municipal Corporations and 327 wards of the 29 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats. With regard to the 90 wards the candidates have won unopposed and out of these 3 candidates belong to the Patiala Municipal Corporation and 87 to the Municipal Councils and the Nagar Panchayats. The spokesman also said that there would be a total of 873 polling stations in the state having 1938 polling booths. A total of 8000 election staff and 15500 police personnel would perform duties at these polling stations.
Elaborating more, the spokesman said that 413 candidates are in the fray in 85 wards of Amritsar where 769153 voter would exercise their franchise. Out of these 408231 are male while 360922 are female. He also said that 3000 officials would perform duties as electoral staff at 366 booths and 4686 police personnel would perform various security related tasks. A total of 305 candidates are in the fray from 80 wards of Jalandhar where 560261 voters would cast their votes including 290617 male and 269644 females. There would be 262 polling stations and 554 polling booths in Jalandhar where 2300 electoral staff and 2355 police personnel would be deployed.
Similarly, the polls would be conducted in 57 out of total 60 wards of Municipal Corporation Patiala and 245 polling booths have been established in 68 polling stations. A total of 1016 electoral staff and 1711 police personnel would be deployed and 260664 voters would cast their vote including 135487 male and 125177 females.
Divulging further, the spokesman said that the polls are also being conducted in 29 Municipal Councils/Nagar Panchayats having total 327 wards. There are 268909 voters which include 139695 male and 129214 females. A total of 1350 electoral staff apart from 6500 police personnel would perform duty in these polls.
The spokesman also said that as per the report of the district administration, Amritsar 154 polling stations out of total 366 have been declared sensitive while 136 have been declared very sensitive. Similarly, out of 554 polling booths in Jalandhar 344 have been declared sensitive and 31 as very sensitive. Adding more, the spokesman said that in Rajasansi area of Amritsar 3 out of 13, in Handiaya area of Barnala 11 out of 13 have been declared sensitive while the rest 2 have been declared very sensitive. In Amloh area of Fatehgarh Sahib all 13 wards have been declared sensitive. In Mallanwala Khas as well as Makhu in Ferozpur, the candidiates from all wards have been elected unopposed.
In Shahkot 13 out of 15, in Goraya and Bilga all 13 each wards have been declared sensitive. In Kapurthala 4 out of 11, in Begowal 2 out of 13 have been declared sensitive while 1 has been declared very sensitive. In Bhulath 1 out of 13 wards has been declared sensitive while 1 has been declared very sensitive. In Machhiwara (Ludhiana) 13 out of 15, in Mullanpur Dakha 5 out of 13, in Maloud 6 out of 11 while in Sahnewal 5 out of 15 wards have been declared sensitive.
In Dharamkot (Moga) 4 out of 13 wards have been declared sensitive and 8 very sensitive, in Fatehgarh Panjtoor 6 out of 11 wards have been declared sensitive. In Muktsar all 11 wards of Bariwala have been declared sensitive while in Ghagga (Patiala) and in Ghanour all 13 and 11 wards respectively have been declared sensitive.
In Narot Jaimal Singh (Pathankot) no ward has been declared sensitive while in Dirba (Sangrur), Cheema, Khanouri and Moonak all 13 wards each have been declared sensitive. In Khemkaran (Tarntaran) polls would be held in 3 out of 13 wards and these 3 have been declared very sensitive. In Bhikhi (Mansa) all 13 wards have been declared sensitive while in Balacahur (Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar) 12 out of 15 wards and in Talwandi Sabo (Bathinda) 5 out of 15 and in Mahilpur (Hoshiarpur) 1 out of total 13 wards has been declared sensitive.
The spokesman further said that the commission has also ordered videography in all the polling stations declared very sensitive. As per the orders issued in respect of counting of votes when the voting process would be completed and the ballot paper prepared then only the returning officer of the ward concerned would order counting.
In case, the electoral process is not completed as per the provisions in the sections 58, 59 and 60 of the Punjab State Election Commission Act, 1994 in any polling station then the returning officer would inform the State Election Commission. The work related to the counting of votes would begin after getting the orders of the commission.
