Chaos prevailed at the Kharar SDM office on Saturday afternoon as a large number of candidates along with their supporters gathered to file nomination papers for the Kharar Municipal Council polls despite Punjab and Haryana High Court deferring the polls.
A petition had raised the issue of residents being deprived of their voting and electoral rights due to incomplete delimitation of newly added areas in six villages. The petitioners had contended that several areas included in the Kharar Municipal Council (MC) limits after the 2021 delimitation exercise had still not been delimited into wards, even as the process stood frozen following a Central notification effective from January 1.
As many as 104 nominations of candidates from AAP, Congress, BJP, SAD and independents were filed at the Kharar SDM office till 3 pm. No written orders were reportedly received from the Election Commission or the High Court after which officials started accepting papers.
Candidates started gathering at the office around 1:30 pm. Tokens were issued to candidates to file their nominations. Several candidates claimed that their nominations were not accepted after 3 pm. While two candidates had filed their papers on Thursday, 43 filed papers on Friday and 59 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a total of 1,175 aspirants filed their papers till the last day of nominations for the upcoming elections of the local bodies in the district.
The highest number of nominations were received for the Mohali Municipal Corporation where 324 candidates filed their papers. Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh’s son Sarabjit Singh Samana, who is a sitting councillor, filed his nomination papers from Ward No. 38. Former health minister Balbir Sidhu’s son Kanwardeep Singh Ruby filed his papers from Ward No. 10. Rebel Congress leader Gagandeep Singh Dhaliwal has also filed his nomination from Ward No. 10. His wife Balraj Kaur Dhaliwal filed her nomination from Ward No. 33. Acting Punjab Mahila Congress president Baljit Kaur Dhaliwal filed her nomination papers from Ward No. 37.
As many as 259 candidates have filed their nomination papers for election to the Municipal Council, Zirakpur, 131 for the Municipal Council, Lalru, 99 for the Municipal Council, Kurali, 56 for the Municipal Council, Banur, 162 for the Municipal Council, Dera Bassi, and 144 for the Municipal Council, Nayagaon.
The scrutiny of the nomination papers will be conducted on May 18 and the last date for the withdrawal of nominations is May 19.
