No certainty regarding MC polls for Punjab’s civic bodies

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The Municipal Corporation Houses of Amritsar and Jalandhar ended their terms in January of this year. The term ended in December 2022 in Patiala. The MC House in Ludhiana has not been open since March of this year. The council members of Phagwara MC has served their terms as of March 2020.

The date for holding the elections for the 39 Municipal Councils and the five Municipal Corporations was previously set for November 15, but it has already passed. There’s still no indication on when the MC polls could take place.

Again, there has been a complete silence despite some action last month when a number of former BJP and Congress councillors joined the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in an attempt to better their prospects.

On the delay, a former local bodies minister said that this government lacks experience. Even the ministers operate their departments remotely and lack management skills. All they know is tantrums. It’s possible that they’re waiting for a good moment to have MC elections. They operate on the tenet that if “we don’t work we will commit to mistake.”

Speaking to the media Balkar Singh, the minister of local bodies, made a suggestion that the elections will likely take place by the middle of December. “There’s been no delay on our end.” Work on ward delimitation is complete. The announcement belongs to the Election Commission, he stated.