The Haryana State Election Commission on Monday announced that elections to municipal corporations (MCs) in Panchkula, Ambala and Sonepat will be held on May 10. Polling will take place for the posts of mayors and councillors.
With the announcement, the model code of conduct has come into immediate effect from April 13, and transfers of officials and employees in the concerned areas have been restricted until completion of the election process.
State election commissioner Devinder Singh Kalyan announced the poll schedule during a press conference at the commission office in Panchkula.
Alongside the MC elections, polls will also be conducted for the posts of president and all ward members of the Rewari municipal council and municipal committees of Sampla, Dharuhera and Uklana.
In addition, bypolls will be held for six vacant ward member seats in municipal councils and committees of Tohana, Jhajjar, Rajound, Tarawadi, Kanina and Sadhaura.
Under Panchayati Raj institutions, general elections will be conducted in gram panchayats of Mandi Adampur and Jawahar Nagar in Hisar, and Govindpura and Polad in Kaithal. Byelections will also be held for 528 vacant posts, including panch, sarpanch, panchayat samiti and zila parishad members across the state.
Key dates
{{/usCountry}}Key dates
{{/usCountry}}Returning officers will issue notices inviting nominations on April 15. Candidates can file papers from April 21 to 25. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 27, while the last date for withdrawal is April 28.
Polling for all posts will be held on May 10. Counting of votes for municipal bodies will begin on May 13, while counting for PRIs will be taken up after polling or, if required, on May 12 in case of repoll.
Eligibility and expenditure limits
Candidates for the posts of MC mayors and municipal council or committee presidents from general and backward classes must have passed Class 10, while women and SC candidates must have passed Class 8.
For PRIs, candidates contesting for panch, sarpanch and member posts must have passed Class 10 in general category, while women and SC candidates must have passed Class 8.
Expenditure limits have been fixed at ₹30 lakh for mayors and ₹7.5 lakh for members. In PRIs, the ceiling is ₹2 lakh for sarpanch and ₹6 lakh for zila parishad members.
Transparency measures, polling arrangements
Candidates with criminal antecedents have been directed to publicise details of their cases in at least two newspapers and on local television channels on three occasions.
Voting will be conducted through EVMs. The NOTA option will also be available.
Adequate police force will be deployed and senior officers will be appointed as observers to ensure free and fair polls.