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High-octane campaigning for MC polls comes to end
During the Lok Sabha elections, the AAP lost urban voters to the BJP and the Congress. The AAP, which won three out of the four recent held assembly by-polls, is trying to regain the urban vote bank.
The high-intensity campaign for the five municipal corporations (MC) and 44 municipal committees across Punjab concluded on Thursday with chief minister Bhagwant Mann canvassing in all 5 MC areas to regain the urban voters, which the party lost in the Lok Sabha elections. Leaders of other parties too made last ditch efforts to woo voters.
CM Mann held a roadshow in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Phagwara, Ludhiana and concluded in Patiala. Leading the AAP show, Mann asked urban voters to elect party councillors so that the development of cities can be undertaken at a rapid pace. “The Congress-led municipal committees didn’t pass development agendas and stalled work in cities,” he said.
During the Lok Sabha elections, the AAP lost urban voters to the BJP and the Congress. The AAP, which won three out of the four recent held assembly by-polls, is trying to regain the urban vote bank.
The Congress and the BJP alleged AAP used muscle power and official machinery in elections. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, during his rallies in Ludhiana, accused AAP of resorting to tactics aimed at influencing the election outcome, “similar to their conduct during the panchayat elections”.
“The people of Punjab are no longer willing to tolerate the deceit and misgovernance of the AAP. Their attempts to manipulate elections will not succeed this time,” said Warring.
BJP president Sunil Jakhar didn’t campaign in the MC elections. He remained absent from most of the party events.
The state government announced public holiday for the voting day (December 21). Polling will be held in five municipal corporations, 41 councils apart from some other ward-wise bye-elections.
A government order mentioned that special leave to government employees and other workers who are voters of the municipal bodies which are going to the polls but employed elsewhere would be allowed as per rules. Besides, the voting day has been declared a dry day. The government stated that Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjabi University, Patiala, and Panjab University, Chandigarh, have postponed the exams which were scheduled to be held on December 21.
In Bathinda, where the byelection is for Ward 48, district authorities said ample security arrangements had been made. Sulking AAP legislator Jagroop Singh Gill abstained from canvassing for party candidate Padamjeet Mehta because he is annoyed as he wanted a ticket for Balwinder Singh Binder who joined AAP on December 9.
On Wednesday night, Gill posted a cryptic video message on Facebook where he appealed to civil society to watch if any of the seven contestants indulge in unfair practices. Gill said he has inputs that unsocial elements are trying to threaten voters. There are seven candidates in the fray. Balwinder Singh Binder, an independent, is also seen as a tough contender. Besides voting for 10 urban local bodies in south Malwa in Bathinda, Moga, Ferozepur, Muktsar and Mansa, byelections will be held in 13 places in the region, including Bathinda, Ferozepur, Fazilka and Faridkot. (With inputs from Vishal Joshi in Bathinda)
