Campaigning for local body polls draws to a close in Ghaziabad

The nine local bodies in the district have about 2.55 million voters and 1,837 candidates in the fray for 294 councillor/member seats and nine seats of mayor/chairpersons

Campaigning for the local body polls reached a crescendo on Tuesday, the last day of public campaigning, with various political parties taking out road shows, and holding public meetings and rallies to give their respective candidates a final push ahead of polling day on May 11.

Ghaziabad BJP leaders showing show the election manifesto of BJP mayoral candidate Sunita Dayal in Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad on Tuesday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The nine local bodies in the district have about 2.55 million voters and 1,837 candidates in the fray for 294 councillor/member seats and nine seats of mayor/chairpersons.

The major contest this time is for the post of mayor of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation, a seat that has been held by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ever since the municipal board was upgraded to a municipal corporation in 1994.

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi addresses a gathering in Dasna in Ghaziabad on Tuesday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

On Tuesday, the Samajwadi Party (SP) mayor candidate Poonam Yadav held a public rally from Navyug Market to Ambedkar Road in a show of strength and went round the entire old city wooing voters.

“We fielded candidates in 60 wards and there are another 15 wards where we have supported independent candidates. So, our mayoral candidate covered about 80-85% wards of the corporation and also held campaigns along with our councillor candidates,” said Sachin Sharma, district president, AAP.

Ghaziabad Congress party’s mayor candidate Pushpa Rawat held a roadshow that covered 40km on Tuesday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the last day of the public campaign, scheduled about eight big public meetings for its mayoral candidate Sunita Dayal.

BJP MLA and leader Atul Garg on Tuesday also released the election manifesto, which included 21 promises for the city’s development.

“The agenda includes all round city development with road engineering to ease traffic, massive plantation drives, open gyms, especially for women, measures to stop depletion of groundwater, revamp of old toilets and construction of new ones, measures to revive river Hindon and rid it of pollution, and installation of CCTV cameras at major crossings and sensitive areas, among others,” said Ashu Verma, BJP’s campaign coordinator.

Verma said their candidate covered about 90-95% wards during the different campaigns while their party leaders also went out to canvas votes in all 100 wards.

“Our mayor candidate Pushpa Rawat has covered more than 95% wards in the city and today’s road show touched all prime locations in Sahibabad, trans-Hindon and Ghaziabad city. It is estimated that the road show on the final day covered about 40 kilometres,” said Ashutosh Gupta, media coordinator of the Congress’ city unit.

Samajwadi Party mayor candidate Poonam Yadav held a public rally from Navyug Market to Ambedkar Road. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Asaduddin Owaisi, president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), arrived in Dasna to support his party candidate Hajjan Hansar. Hansar has held the post of chairperson, Dasna nagar palika, during the previous term and is contesting yet again from the seat reserved for women. A total of 13 women are contesting the seat this time in Dasna.

The public meeting in Dasna, a minority dominated locality, was attended by a gathering of about 1,500-2,000 people and Owaisi urged voters to consider his candidate this time as well.

District officials said campaigning ended at 6pm on Tuesday and no more public rallies, road shows or public events will be allowed henceforth till polling day.

“Candidates, however, may go on door-to-door to campaigning to canvas votes. But this should not be in form of any major gathering or rallies,” said Vipin Kumar, additional district magistrate and nodal officer for local bodies.

The nine local bodies that go to polls include the Ghaziabad municipal corporation, four Nagar Palikas of Khoda, Loni, Modinagar and Muradnagar and four Nagar Panchayats of Patla, Niwari, Dasna and Faridnagar.