CHANDIGARH: The elections to six municipal corporations passed off peacefully on Sunday, recording a turnout of 69.01 per cent, less than the 71 per cent recorded in the Lok Sabha elections held last year.
No untoward incident was reported in any of the polling booths, State Election Commissioner S S Brar said.
While divulging the poll percentage in different municipal corporations, Brar said that at SAS Nagar Mohali 60.48 per cent votes were polled, while Bathinda recorded 67 per cent, Hoshiarpur 67.29 per cent, Moga 72.33 per cent, Pathankot 74 per cent and at Phagwara the final poll percentage was recorded as 73 per cent. He said that the total average poll percentage remained 69.01 per cent.
Brar further said that for the by-election of two wards in Patiala, the poll percentage was recorded as 46 per cent, whereas the poll percentage at Jalandhar’s lone ward was recorded at 63.08 per cent. The second phase of polling would be held on February 25, when 122 municipal councils and nagar panchayats, besides one notified area committee, would go to polls. The counting would be held on February 26.
Besides making a statement on the popularity of the Akali Dal and the BJP, the elections would also reveal their fate from results of places where they are fighting jointly or against each other. As many as 8,274 candidates are in the fray for the elections to municipal corporations, council and nagar panchayats. Out of those, 164 have already been declared unopposed. Nearly 20,000 cops would be on security duty for polling and counting. As many as 19,616 police personnel have been deployed on election duty.
Nearly 4,000 of those were deputed for Sunday’s polls and 15,689 would be deployed on February 25.