No nominations have been received for 28 wards of Ahemdgarh (17) and Amargarh (11) municipal councils here even as the process to file papers has been ongoing for two days now.
According to official data, 18 candidates have filed their papers for contesting the elections from various wards of the Malerkotla Municipal Council. It has a total of 33 wards.
The last date to file nominations has been set at May 16.
According to aspiring candidates, confusion over documents required for verification of candidature is the primary reason behind the sluggish pace of filing nomination papers.
Candidates reportedly panicked as they were advised to attach police clearance certificate, residence certificate and no-objection certificate from Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), along with other routine documents which were needed during past civic body elections.
Aspiring candidates claim the three certificates were demanded for the first time and it was “almost impossible” to get hem issued before the nominations deadline.
Senior functionaries in District Election Office, Malerkotla, acknowledged the confusion, but insisted the additional documents were not required, provided candidates submit prescribed affidavits regarding pending police cases, dues towards government bodies and permanent residence at the time of election.
Referring to information received from Sub-Divisional Magistrates, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Rimpy Garg said confusion had prevailed for some time due to negligence of certain vendors facilitating preparation of nomination papers, but it was clarified on Thursday.
“We have verified the facts and circumstances leading to confusion among aspirants. It was ascertained that some facilitators negligently asked their clients to prepare these certificates for avoiding last-moment frustration,” said Garg, maintaining no government officials had demanded the unwanted documents.
Aspirants from across political corners alleged the authorities failed to provide information about eligibility of candidates and details of documents needed to be attached to nomination papers.
“The tendency to panic for preparing unnecessary documents and certificates has also compounded problems for government personnel processing applications for issuance of these certificates,” said Kamal Dhaliwal, a senior Congress leader from the Amargarh Assembly segment. He added that almost all aspirants affiliated to rival political parties had spent time, money and energy on getting these documents prepared.
Dhaliwal claimed non-submission of nomination papers was due to misleading information provided by officials.
According to the information available, revealed more than 70 police clearance certificates were issued on Wednesday even as the standard period for issuing the certificate is ten days.
Ludhiana lags behind too
The sluggish pace of nomination filing is not limited to civic bodies in Malerkotla.
For 33 wards in Khanna and 23 in Jagraon in Ludhiana district, only four candidates have filed their nomination papers so far. All the nominations were received on Thursday.
Elections are being held 112 wards of six civic bodies in Ludhiana.
Security beefed up
Security has been beefed up in Malerkotla ahead of Municipal Council elections, scheduled for May 26.
Police officials said they have set up permanent check-points on strategic points to check movement of vehicles, stop intrusion of anti-social elements, and curb inflow of cash and weapons.
The police also conducted flag marches in various localities with intent to boost morale of residents.
Malerkotla Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurmit Singh confirmed security has been reinforced at localities where polling will take place, adding circle officers, Station House Officers (SHOs) and beat officers have been asked to be extra vigilant.
