Haryana Chief Secretary Dr. Vivek Joshi has assured State Election Commissioner Sh. Dhanpat Singh that the administration will extend full support in conducting the upcoming Municipal Bodies elections in a free, fair, transparent and peaceful manner.The Haryana State Election Commissioner along with the Chief Secretary jointly presided over a meeting here today regarding preparations for General Elections of Municipal Bodies in the state.
During the meeting, Sh. Dhanpat Singh apprised that the State Election Commission has decided to conduct of General Elections of 08 Municipal Corporations, 04 Municipal Councils & 21 Municipal Committees and bye-elections of 02 seats of Mayors i.e. Mayors of Municipal Corporations, Ambala and Sonepat; 03 seats of Presidents i.e. President, Municipal Council, Sohna (Gurugram); Municipal Committee, Assandh (Karnal) & Municipal Committee, Ismailabad (Kurukshetra) and 03 seats of Members i.e. Ward No. 11 of Municipal Committee, Ladwa (Kurukshetra); Ward No. 14 of Municipal Committee, Safidon (Jind) & Ward No. 05 of Municipal Committee, Taraori (Karnal).
As per election schedule, polling of votes for the general/bye-elections of these municipal bodies will be held on March 2 (except Municipal Corporation, Panipat). The polling of votes for the Mayor and Ward Members of Municipal Corporation, Panipat will be held on March 9.
The State Election Commissioner further informed that there will be total 644 wards in total 33 Municipal Bodies where polling will be conducted, including 78 reserved for Schedule Castes, 55 reserved for Scheduled Castes in women, 29 for Backward Classes (A), 34 for Backward Classes (A) in women, 08 for Backward Classes (B), 30 for Backward Classes (B) in women, 111 for Women and 299 for Unreserved categories.
The State Election Commissioner said there were a total of 45,26,227 registered voters across 33 municipalities, excluding Panipat. This includes 24,03,004 male voters, 21,23,072 female voters, and 151 transgender voters. The municipal bodies comprise 21 municipal committees, 4 municipal councils, and 8 municipal corporations, with 4,469 polling booths set up for the elections.
During the meeting, extensive discussions on the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, Law and Order, Power Supply, Water Supply and Sanitation, Health Services, Excise and Taxation and other matters were also held.
Additional Chief Secretary, Higher Education Department, Sh. Vineet Garg, Commissioner & Secretary, Urban Local Bodies Department, Sh. Vikas Gupta, Commissioner & Secretary, Public Health Engineering, Mohammed Shayin, Additional Director (Admn), Information, Public Relations and Languages, Smt. Varsha Khangwal, and other senior officers were present on the occasion.