MC POLLS: 69 remain in fray for 15 wards

A total of 29,873 electorates, including 15,474 male and 14,399 women, will decide the fate of contesting nominees. Returning Officer Rajeev Kumar Gupta allotted the election symbols to the left out candidates on Saturday evening.

While 15 candidates of the opposition Congress party were allotted the “Hand” symbol, another 15 of the ruling SAD-BJP combine opted for the “Rising Sun” as the election symbol. The other 39 Independent candidates were allotted different symbols.

The Congress, on Saturday, cried foul over the electoral rolls, which it alleged were “rigged” to facilitate the victory of the ruling combine.

Launching a scathing attack on the SAD-BJP combine, Kharar MLA Balbir Sidhu alleged that the electoral rolls for the Kharar MC were manipulated in such a manner that the names of a large number of genuine voters, who were believed to be Congress supporters, were deleted while a number of outsiders and bogus voters were enrolled to create a vote bank for the ruling alliance.

Returning Officer Rajeev Kumar Gupta, however, categorically refuted the allegations as “false and baseless” and claimed that the objections received on the entries in the voters’ lists were entertained as approved by the State Election Commission.

The ruling SAD-BJP combine has joined hands with former Kharar MC president Charanjit Singh, who is Independent MLA from Chamkaur Sahib.

Som Parkash is poll observer
The Punjab State Election Commission has appointed Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) Chief Administrator Som Parkash as observer for the Kharar MC polls.

Som Parkash will be available to the public round-the-clock on his mobile number 98761-00022. He visited various wards on Saturday to review arrangements for ensuring free and fair polls.

Code violated?
Independent candidate from Ward 12 Gagag Suri shot off a formal complaint to the Punjab State Election Commission on Saturday alleging a violation of the model code of conduct by the SAD-BJP nominee Jagjit Singh from his constituency. “Even before the allotment of the symbol, Lovely was using the Rising Sun as his election symbol,” alleged Suri.

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