Ludhiana civic polls to be held on Saturday

Ludhiana: All necessary arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful polling for Ludhiana Municipal Corporation and by-polls of two wards in Payal and Jagraon Municipal Councils tomorrow, a senior official said on Friday.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the elections and more than 4,500 cops have been deployed, he said.

Around 5,400 employees of civil administration have also been engaged in the entire election process, District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Agrawal said after reviewing the preparations here.

Agrawal exhorted voters to exercise their franchise fearlessly and to show enthusiasm for voting.

As many as 494 candidates are in the fray for Ludhiana Municipal Corporation elections. Nearly 10.50 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes to elect their representatives from 95 wards. There are 5.67 lakh male voters, 4.82 lakh females, and 23 transgenders.

A total of 284 polling stations out of a total of 1,153 stations have been identified as sensitive where videography would be done.

Agrawal informed that nine strong rooms would be set up at as many places where the electronic voting machine would be kept till the counting day (February 27).

CCTV cameras would be installed for the round-the-clock supervision of the strong rooms. These cameras would be Wi-Fi enabled and any candidate can oversee the strong room by just entering a password which would be issued by the returning officer.

The Punjab Government has declared a holiday in all government offices, corporations, boards, and educational institutions tomorrow in all concerned election areas here.

Dry days will be observed in Ludhiana, Jagraon, and Payal on the polling day and the counting day.