The State Election Commissioner, Punjab, Mr. Jagpal Singh Sandhu here today announced the schedule for the elections to the 3 Municipal Corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala and 32 Nagar Councils/Nagar Panchayats. With the announcement of the schedule, the model of conduct has come into force immediately in the areas falling within the jurisdiction of concerned corporations and nagar councils/nagar panchayats. The code of conduct would be in force till the completion of the electoral process.Elaborating more during the press conference, Mr. Jagpal Singh Sandhu said that the process for filing the nominations would commence on 2nd December, 2017 at 11 AM and would continue till 3 PM on 6th December which would be the last date for the filing of nominations. The nominations would be scrutinized on 7th December while the date for withdrawal of the nominations would be 8th December which is also the date for allotting the election symbols to the candidates. The voting would be held on 17th December 2017 from 8 AM till 4 PM. The results would be declared on the same day. A total of 26 observers have been appointed for the purpose of looking into the grievances of the people and ensuring the peaceful conduct of the polls. He said that 50% seats will be reserved for the women in corporations and municipal Couuncil &nagar panchayat .
The State Election Commissioner further said that the expenditure limit for a candidate contesting from a ward of the corporations has been fixed at Rs. 2,50,000 lakhs where as the limit for those contesting from a ward of the nagar councils coming under class-1 has been fixed at Rs. 2,25,000. The nagar councils coming under class-2 would have the expenditure limit of Rs. 1,40,000 for a candidate contesting from any of its ward while the candidates contesting from any of the wards of nagar councils falling under class-3 would have to adhere to the expenditure limit of Rs. 1,20,000. Similarly, the candidates contesting from any ward of the nagar panchayats would have to observe the expenditure limit of Rs. 80,000. He further said that this time EVM machines would be used and the voters would have the option of pressing the NOTA button for the first time.Mr. Sandhu also said that the voter lists of the 3 municipal corporations and 32 nagar councils as well as the nagar panchayats have been updated till 1st January, 2017 but still if anybody has been left out of the process then he/she can apply for registration as voter till 6th December i.e. the last day of filing the nominations. He appealed to all the voters to participate in the voting process with full zeal.
The State Election Commissioner also elaborated that for ensuring the appropriate conduct of the polls, 756 polling stations have been set up in Amritsar Municipal Corporation, 563 in Jalandhar and 254 in Patiala. In Barnala 13, in Bathinda 15, in Ferozepur 19, in Fatehgarh Sahib 13, in Hoshiarpur 13, in Kapurthala 37, in Ludhiana 70, in Moga 35, in Mansa 13, in Muktsar Sahib 11, in Pathankot 11, in Sangrur 52, in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and in Tarntaran 13 polling stations have been set up. The nagar councils/nagar panchayats in which the voting would be held, are:- Rajasansi (Amritsar), Handiaya (Barnala), Amloh (Fatehgarh Sahib), Mallanwala Khas and Makhu (Ferozepur), Bhogpur, Shahkot, Goraya and Bilga (Jalandhar), Dhilwan, Begowal and Bhulath (Kapurthala), Machhiwara, Mullanpur Dakha, Maloud and Sahnewal (Ludhiana), Baghapurana, Dharamkot and Panjtoor (Moga), Bariwala (Muktsar), Ghagga and Ghanour (Patiala), Narot Jaimal Singh (Pathankot), Dirba, Cheema, Ghanouri and Moonak (Sangrur), Khemkaran (Tarntaran), Bhikhi (Mansa), Balachaur (S.B.S. Nagar), Talwandi Sabo (Bathinda) and Mahilpur (Hoshiarpur).