DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Elections to five municipal corporations and 44 municipal councils and nagar panchayats in Punjab will be held on December 21, the State Election Commission said on Sunday.

All necessary arrangements have been made for the civic body polls, it said.

Addressing the media here, State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhuri said polling for five municipal corporations and 44 municipal councils and Nagar panchayats will be held from 7 am to 4 pm. "The model code of conduct will come into force from today," he said.

The five municipal corporations going to polls are Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Phagwara.

The process of filing nominations will start from December 9 and the last date will be December 12. The scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on December 13 and the last date for the withdrawal of nominations will be December 14, Chaudhuri said.

He said, 37.32 lakh voters, including 17.75 lakh females and 204 others, are eligible to cast their votes in these elections.

The state election commissioner said electronic voting machines (EVMs) would be used for the voting. A sufficient number of EVMs have been arranged for use in the elections, he added.

Votes will be counted on the same day at the polling station itself, after the completion of polling of votes, he further said. Chaudhuri said polling would be held for 381 wards of the Municipal Corporations and 598 wards of the Municipal Councils/Nagar Panchayats.

Adequate security arrangements have been made by police, he said, asserting that a comprehensive security plan has been prepared.

There are a total of 1,609 polling locations having 3,809 polling booths.

Of them, 344 polling locations have been identified as hypersensitive, and 665 as sensitive. A total of 21,500 personnel of the police department and Home Guard Jawans would be deployed, he said.

The commissioners of police and senior superintendents of police have been authorised to enhance the security deployment at polling locations.

He said instructions regarding the prohibition on carrying arms and ammunition have been issued. The district magistrates being competent authority under the Arms Act will assess the necessity or requirement of the deposit of arms.

The expenditure limits notified for a candidate contesting for the municipal elections are Rs 4 lakh, Rs 3.60 lakh for municipal council class I, Rs 2.30 lakh for municipal council class II and Rs 2 lakh for municipal council class III. The expenditure limit notified for a candidate contesting for the Nagar panchayat is Rs 1.40 lakh. Around 23,000 election personnel would be deputed on election duty.

As many as 25 IAS and PCS officers would be appointed as general observers for the polls, he said.

(editor@dailyworld.in)