
The noise of the election campaign stopped at 5 pm on Tuesday evening, 48 hours before the voting for 100 municipal bodies in Uttarakhand on January 23. With this, now political parties, candidates and their supporters have focused on door-to-door campaigning. On the other hand, 3394 polling parties left on Wednesday to conduct the voting.
The process started with filing of nomination papers on January 27
The process of election of 11 Municipal Corporations, 43 Municipal Councils and 46 Nagar Panchayats started with filing of nomination papers on January 27. The election campaign gained momentum in the state after the allocation of election symbols to 72 candidates for Mayor, 445 for Chairman and 4888 candidates for councilor and member on January 3. The noise of the election campaign, which went on for 18 days, came to an end at 5 pm on Tuesday evening. Before this, there was a lot of rallies, meetings and road shows in all the municipal areas, and the candidates’ campaign vehicles kept running throughout the day. As soon as the campaign ended, political parties and candidates changed their election strategy and knocked on the door of every house and put in all their efforts at the last moment. The goal is to get the fate-makers, the voters, on their side by hook or crook. Although, the common voter is listening to everyone silently, but is not letting anyone know his mind. On the other hand, polling parties left on Wednesday to conduct the voting. A total of 1515 polling centers have been set up in the state for voting, in which the total number of booths is 3394. The number of personnel included in the polling parties is 16284. Voting will start on January 23 at 8 am and will continue till 5 pm. The total number of voters in the bodies is 30.29 lakh.
Congress knocks on the door of voters relying on anti-incumbency
On the last day of campaigning for the municipal elections, Congress leaders put in their energy in public meetings, rallies and public relations. The party’s entire campaign has been focused on anti-incumbency in the municipal bodies along with the state. To strengthen the reach among the voters in the cities, the party candidates have got the support of senior leaders this time. It is a different matter that senior leaders have also been seen face to face in many bodies. On the last day of campaigning for the elections for 100 municipal bodies in the state, Congress candidates and their veteran leaders took charge in the streets and mohallas of various wards. Congress is contesting elections in 91 bodies. This time the party is putting more emphasis on the post of mayor in 11 municipal corporations. In the last municipal elections also, out of a total of eight, Congress had mayors in two municipal corporations, Kotdwar and Haridwar. This time the party hopes that its performance will be better in Dehradun, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Roorkee, Kashipur, Rudrapur and Haldwani. In order to break into the BJP’s fort, this time Congress has kept in mind BJP’s strategy for the selection of candidates. In its manifesto released yesterday, Congress has given place to the candidates for the post of Mayor in all the 11 Municipal Corporations.