AAP to contest Punjab municipal polls; releases list of 29 candidates

Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday announced to contest the Punjab municipal elections, scheduled later this month.

The party declared that it will contest on its own symbol 'broom' and also released its first list of 29 candidates.

Punjab AAP president and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann said that the party has decided to contest the municipal elections on the party symbols so that the local problems of the people of various municipal areas could be highlighted.

AAP is the main opposition party in the Punjab assembly. The party, in its first assembly electoral outing in the state, won 20 seats in the 117-member assembly in March this year.

Elections to Punjab's three Municipal Corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala and 32 Nagar Councils and Nagar Panchayats will be held on December 17, State Election Commissioner Jagpal Singh Sandhu had announced on Thursday.

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The ruling Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal and its alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are also geared up to fight the municipal polls in the state.

The model code of conduct has come into force immediately in the areas falling within the jurisdiction of corporations, nagar councils and nagar panchayats concerned. 50 per cent seats will be reserved for the women in corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats.

The municipal polls were to be held in September but were postponed as the electoral rolls were not updated.

The election to the Ludhiana municipal corporation is not being held with the rest of the state as the electoral rolls revision has not been completed.

Ludhiana, with a population of 3.5 million, is the largest city in Punjab and the biggest industrial hub in north India.

Lok Insaf Party leader and legislator Simarjeet Singh Bains told media on Saturday that a petition was being filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court to get the Ludhiana municipal corporation election held with the rest of the state.

The municipal elections are crucial for Punjab as these are being held nearly nine months after the Congress won the assembly polls in March, securing 77 seats in the assembly.