THE HIGH-STAKE Municipal Corporation election in Chandigarh registered 57.19 per cent turnout in 25 wards on Sunday. Repolling has been ordered in booth number 14 in ward no. 7 after the number of votes polled were found to be more than the total registered voters. Polling will take place on Monday again. An urgent meeting of the candidates from ward 7 was called by the State Election Commission at the UT Guesthouse. The meeting was on till the filing of the report. Watch what else is making news: While the turnout in urban areas was low, the turnout was high in rural areas, especially colonies. The results shall be announced on December 20. Ward number 7 comprises Maloya and west of Sector 39. The problem in polling was reported from a booth in an anganwari centre in Maloya Colony. “There are orders for repoll at polling booth 14 which is an anganwadi centre in Maloya colony. Repolling will be held from 8 am to 5 pm,” said Tarsem Lal, officer on special duty. The highest polling percentage was recorded in ward no. 24 (Mauli complex, Vikas Nagar, Railway colony and neighbouring areas) with 73.87 per cent. It was followed by ward no. 23 (Karsan colony, Hallomajra, Ram Darbar, Faidan etc.) with 72.38 per cent. On the other hand, ward no. 17 (sectors 18, 19 and 21) witnessed the lowest turnout with 41.97 per cent. Considering the polling per centage, politicians believe that demonetisation will have no impact on the results as the issues involved in these elections are purely civic and local in nature, and here a candidate’s personal rapport with people of his/ her area counts more than the party or the issues involved at the national level. Polling picked up pace in the latter half of the day. As the polling began at 8 am, barely 8.83 per cent of the total 5,07,623 voters had voted in the first two hours and it touched 20.99 per cent till 12 noon. Since it was a Sunday, people from all walks of life and all age groups went out to cast their vote. Even physically challenged, senior citizens, first-time voters queued up to cast their vote. Politicians and their supporters were seen hiring autorickshaws, private vehicles to ferry the voters to the polling booths. At a polling station in Sector 32, disruption was witnessed when the Congress alleged that their supporters caught some fake voters in the queue. City Congress chief Pardeep Chhabra said that the youths were standing with photocopies of Aadhar card and it was after the alarm was raised that they fled. However, city BJP chief Sanjay Tandon denied Congress allegations. No police complaint was lodged. Senior politicians of all the political parties, including incumbent Member of Parliament Kirron Kher and former railway minister Pawan Bansal and his family, and Mikha Singh and his wife voted in their respective wards. Heavy police deployment was made in and around a total of 445 polling stations. There are 122 candidates in the fray this time for 26 wards. Urban areas registered lower poll percentage In ward no. 1 that comprises posh sectors from 1 to 11, voter turnout came down by nearly three per cent as compared to previous polls. This time the voter turnout was recorded 49.16 per cent while it was 52.08 per cent in 2011 polls. The number of voters in this ward is 14,098. In ward 2 that comprises sectors 12, 14, 15 and Khuda Lahora, voter turnout was 53.42 while it was 58.85 per cent in previous polls. Ward 3 that has 12,668 voters (comprising sectors 16, 17 and 22) saw 49.61 per cent polling while it was 52.44 per cent in 2011 polls. Ward 22 that comprises housing societies including sectors 31, 47, 48, Industrial Area Phase-II witnessed only 50.94 polling; it was 54 per cent last time. Ward 17 (sectors 18,19 and 21) witnessed 41.97 polling. Ward 11 that comprises Sector 53 (Nehru Colony), Sector 54, Sector 55 (Housing Board), Sector 55 Indira, Kamal and Adarsh Colomy, Rehablilitation Colony, Palsora, and Palsora village, voter turnout was far better than the urban areas but yet lesser than what it was last time. While it was 70.26 per cent this time, the 2011 polls had witnessed 71 per cent voting in these areas. Areas with higher polling percentage Ward 6 that consists of Dadumajra colony and Shahpur saw 65.72 polling. Last year, it was only 57 per cent. Ward 23 (Ram Darbar, Faidan, Hallomajra, Burail and other colony areas) which has the highest number of voters — 33,113 — saw a voter turnout of 72.38 per cent whereas it was 70 per cent in the 2011 elections. Ward 12 that consists of sectors 43, 52, EWS LIG Colony, 61 and Kajheri area saw a turnout of 63.55 percentage while in 2011, it was only 56 per cent. Ward 14 that consists of Burail and Sector 45 saw 65.71 polling as compared to only 56.11 per cent last time. The urban belt in these wards saw more polling. In ward 9, which consists of sectors 39 and 40, saw more polling than 2011 polls. The voter turnout was 50.75 per cent while it was just 46 per cent in 2011. In ward 21 (sectors 32 and 46), the percentage was 56.62 as compared to 49 per cent in 2011 polls. In ward 8 which comprises sectors 37, 38 and 38 West which is the ward of Mayor Arun Sood, the polling was 56.32 per cent while it was 56.08 last time. In ward 24 (Mauli Complex, Railway Colony, Ambedkar Avas Yojna, Bhagat Singh Colony, Vikas Nagar, Shivalik Enclave) had a voter turnout of 73.87 as compared to 69.3 per cent in 2011. Chiefspeak City Congress chief Pardeep Chhabra: We will win with a clear majority in the MC elections. However, the entire administration, be it officials in the polling booths or police, was under the influence of BJP. We found fake voters in Sector 32 who fled when our supporters caught them. Our polling agents were not allowed while BJP leaders were standing inside the polling booths even when they had no work there. In the evening hours, the BJP was just getting dummy voters to cast their votes.” City BJP chief Sanjay Tandon: I am worried about the low percentage of polling in the city. It is a bad trend. People must take interest in electing the new corporation. The polling was better in the peripheral areas. I am hopeful that BJP will have two third majority in the corporation and the next mayor will be of the BJP only.
