CHANDIGARH: A total of 9,222 candidates are finally in the fray after the last date of withdrawal of nomination papers, for the February 14 local body elections in Punjab. The elections are scheduled in 2,302 wards of eight municipal corporations and 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats.
Earlier, 15,305 candidates had filed nomination papers for elections. Those who are now in the final contest include 2,037 candidates of Congress, 1,606 of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), 1,569 of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), 1,003 of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and 160 of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). There are two candidates of the Communist Party of India (CPI), two of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), four of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and one of Sarv Sanjhi Party. There are 2,832 candidates who are contesting these elections as independent candidates.
Many BJP candidates are also contesting as independents as they have refrained from contesting on the party symbol fearing a backlash during the ongoing farmers’ protest against three contentious farm laws.
In all, 901 candidates are in the contest in Mohali district, followed by 769 in Bathinda and 624 in Sangrur.