Mohali DC Girish Dayalan check arrangements at a polling booth.
Mohali records 60% polling turnout, city witnesses 5.5% drop this time
Harshabab Sidhu
Mohali, February 14, 2021:
The polling for the elections of the local body was conducted on Sunday in the Mohali district. Along with Municipal Corporation elections in 50 wards of Mohali city, the elections for seven Municipal Councils were held in Kharar, Kurali, Dera Bassi, Zirakpur, Lalru, Banur, and Nayagaon, where a total of 901 candidates tried their luck in these polls.
The district has witnessed an overall 60.08 percent turnout this time. Mohali city witnessed 55.53 percent turnout in 50 wards, which is almost 5.5 percent less than previous MC polls in 2015. Sharing the stats of municipal councils, Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan informed that 77.91 percent in Banur, which is highest in the district, 65.69 percent in Dera Bassi, 69.24 percent in Kurali, 75.76 percent in Lalru, 65.90 percent in Nayagaon, 58.14 percent in Kharar and 55 percent in Zirakpur, which is lowest in the district. He said that a total of 2, 87,479 voters cast their votes which contains 1, 51,034 men, 1, 36,444 women, and 1 transgender.
The voting started at 8 am and it continued till 4 pm. The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been sealed now and the counting of votes will take place on Wednesday.
No major untoward incident was reported in the district today during the polling in 509 booths. However, some questions were raised by candidates on the efficiency and work pace of officials. The desks of all political parties — Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Azad Group, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were set up in each ward for assisting the voters. Amid the pandemic, many voters did not cast their votes today. Long voters’ queues were witnessed only in Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase-7.
The MC House is elected for five years and the previous term ended on April 26 last year. Notably, the previous (first) elections of Mohali MC were held in 2015. Kulwant Singh’s group (of independents) had won 10 seats and with the support of Congress, he was elected the mayor of Mohali. This time too, a tough fight is expected between the ruling Congress party and Azad Group led by the former mayor.