Amritsar Municipal elections: A day before voting, Congress sacks nine leaders; BJP fears rigging

Polling will be held at 784 polling booths of 85 wards to decide the fate of 413 candidates, which includes 156 independent candidates (File)

A day before the voting for the Amritsar Municipal Corporation elections, Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president and Gurdaspur MP Sunil Jakhar on Saturday sacked nine local party leaders from the party. Those sacked for anti-party activities during the MC poll campaign include Sawraj Bir Singh Dhillon, Deepak Khanna and Mahesh Khanna.

Six rebel candidates in MC elections, Suman Bala, Vishal Sharma, Sarvjeet Singh Latti, Nisha Dhillon, Annu Khanna and Lakhwinder Kumar, were also sacked. Polling will be held at 784 polling booths of 85 wards to decide the fate of 413 candidates, which includes 156 independent candidates. While 154 polling booths have been declared sensitive, 136 have been designated as highly sensitive. Votes will be cast on EVMs. Meanwhile, the Bhartiya Janta Party submitted a memorandum to Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Kamaljit Singh Sangha accusing Congress of attempts to rig election.

BJP district president Rajesh Honey and Rajaya Sabha MP Shawait Malik alleged that Congress candidates were using muscle power to threaten voters. Amritsar Police Commissioner S S Srivastava denied such allegations. “There is no truth in such allegations. We have deployed 4,000 personnel to maintain law and order in the city. We have conducted searches to nab outsiders. A total of 35 patrolling parties will be ready for quick action on any complaint.” Liquor shops have been ordered shut for Sunday.