Chandigarh records 60% voter turnout in municipal elections

Chandigarh, December 24

Chandigarh recorded 60 per cent voter turnout for municipal elections on Friday---almost exactly the same as 2016---officials said after voting for all 35 wards of the local body closed.

Chandigarh had recorded 59.6 per cent voting in 2016.

Voting was highest in ward no 16 (72.81%) and lowest in Ward 23 (42.66%). 

Voting began at 7.30 am. Long lines of people could be seen outside many polling stations well past voting closed officially at 5 pm as many voters dashed to booths to get their votes in before the deadline. 

"There has been no report of any delay in starting the poll process," an electoral officer told IANS in the afternoon.

The Bharatiya Janata Pary holds the majority in Chandigarh's current municipal corporation. The entry of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a serious contender made it a three-cornered contest this time, marking a significant departure from the usual pattern having only two primary rivals, the Congress and BJP.

Campaigning was high-voltage, with all three parties using every trick in the book, including having “star campaigners” to dazzle voters.

AAP’s campaign saw Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia interact with city residents and ended with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s public rally in Sector 43, but saw a whole array of other prominent leaders, such as its Punjab chief and MP Bhagwant Mann and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, step in to boost the party’s star credentials.

The Congress pulled out some of its big guns too—Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar, old warhorse Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja, Randeep Singh Surjewala, and Punjab faces Manpreet Badal, Raj Kumar Verka and Mohinder Singh Kaypee made up the party’s most prominent campaigners.

Not to be outdone, BJP used 12 campaigners for canvassing and even mounted door-to-door campaigns. Union ministers Som Prakash, Piyush Goyal, Ajay Bhatt, Nityanand Rai and Anurag Thakur addressed public rallies. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari were also in the city for canvassing.

Votes will be counted on December 27.

A total of 633,475 voters, including 301,275 women, will decide the fate of 203 candidates.

The ruling BJP made development and its achievements in the past six years its main campaign agenda.

The Congress, having lost three successive elections to the BJP, based its campaign on anti-incumbency, saying the saffron party failed miserably to retain the tag of the 'City Beautiful'.

The AAP campaign was largely focused on replicating its successful "Delhi Model" in the city.

A total of 212 polling stations were set up in different parts of the city. Among 694 booths, 220 are sensitive. Most of these booths are in the 13 new villages that were merged with the municipal corporation.

Over 6,000 police and BSF personnel will be on poll duty. There will be 4,200 poll officers. --- Agencies