7,555 candidates in fray for May 26 Punjab civic body polls

Chandigarh: With just three days left before Punjab heads to the civic body polls, the state election commission (SEC) announced that a total of 7,555 candidates have been cleared to contest the upcoming municipal general elections. The state is gearing up for a high-stakes, multi-cornered contest scheduled for May 26.Leading the charge is incumbent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has fielded 1,801 candidates, followed by the Congress with 1,550 candidates, closely rivalled by 1,528 Independent candidates. The BJP has fielded 1,316 candidates and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is in the fray with 1,251 candidates. Additionally, the BSP has put forward 96 candidates, while 13 other candidates make up the remainder of the official ballot. Political analysts view the civic body election as a critical litmus test for Punjab's major political players, testing party machinery ahead of future state battles. To handle the scale of the voting population and the sheer volume of contestants, the SEC noted that a detailed list of all contesting candidates has been finalised, and all necessary administrative and security arrangements are firmly in place to ensure smooth, transparent and peaceful polling across Punjab this Tuesday. Earlier, nomination papers of 713 candidates were rejected during the scrutiny process. The opposition parties had accused the AAP govt of misusing the state machinery, alleging that officials withheld mandatory no-objection certificates from rival candidates and manipulating ward delimitations to disqualify non-AAP contenders.