Gurugram: The Haryana state election commission on Tuesday announced the poll dates for eight municipal corporations, including Gurugram and 21 other municipal committees across the state. According to the schedule announced by state election commissioner Dhanpat Singh, the election will be held at all the places on March 2 barring Panipat, while the results will be announced on March 12.
The elections to the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has been delayed by over two years as the tenure of the corporation had ended in February 2022. It is also for the first time that around 9 lakh voters will directly vote and elect a mayor for the city. Earlier, the mayor was elected by the councillors.
The state election commission said that nomination of candidates will take place between February 11 and February 18, while the scrutiny of nominations will take place on February 18. The distribution of election symbols will take place on February 19, while voting will be held on March 2 and counting will take place on March 12.
For Panipat, however, the municipal elections will be held on March 9, while the results will be declared on March 12, the state election commission said.
“The Model Code of Conduct shall come into force immediately from today i.e. February 4, in respect of these municipal bodies. No officer/official connected with the election should work in these districts and no employee of these municipal bodies shall be transferred from his/her present place of posting till the completion of the election process,” the state election commission said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}“The Model Code of Conduct shall come into force immediately from today i.e. February 4, in respect of these municipal bodies. No officer/official connected with the election should work in these districts and no employee of these municipal bodies shall be transferred from his/her present place of posting till the completion of the election process,” the state election commission said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}According to the details shared by the district administration earlier, Gurugram municipal corporation has been divided into 36 wards and voting will be held in 905 booths. The Manesar municipal corporation has 30 wards and voting will take place in 96 booths.
The post of the Gurugram mayor has been reserved for a woman candidate from the backward class in the (BC A) category by the state government. However, the post of mayor in Manesar has not been reserved and a candidate from any community can contest for the post.
As far as wards are concerned, 12 wards have been reserved for women candidates, three for scheduled caste candidates and one for a nominee from the backward class.
According to the district administration, Gurugram has a total of 8,97,420 voters, while neighbouring Manesar has 96,987 voters.
The elections are expected to witness keen contests, with major political parties and independent candidates vying for control of the urban local bodies across Haryana.
The upcoming municipal polls have political implications for both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the principal opposition party -- the Congress.