Election to 15 civic bodies on December 20 By-poll in 17 Wards will also be held on the same day.

Raipur:Elections to 15 civic bodies and by-elections to 17 Wards in the state will be held on December 20, announced State Election Commissioner Thakur Ram Singh on Wednesday.  The 15 civic bodies include 4 municipal corporations, 5 municipal councils and 6 nagar panchayats of the state. Besides, bye-elections will be held for 17 Wards in 16 civic bodies on December 20, the Commissioner said.   

Final publication of voter lists of Ward 9 in Raigarh Municipal Corporation, Amdi Ward Number 14 of Dhamtari Municipal Corporation and ward number 9 of Bhanupratappur Nagar Panchayat will be held on November 25 followed by the processes for elections of these three wards will be completed. Nomination process will commence on November 27. Publication of information for the elections will be held by the District Election Officer on the same date. 

December 3 will be the last date for receiving nominationsfollowed  by scrutiny of the nominations will be held on December 4. The candidates can withdraw their nominations by December 6.The counting will take place on December 23. 

The elections will be held in 370 Wards of 15 civic bodies. Nagar Panchayat Bhairamgarh (15 wards), Nagar Panchayat Bhopalpatnam (15 wards), Municipal Council Birgaon (40 wards), Nagar Panchayat Narharpur (15 wards), Municipal Corporation Bhilai (70), Municipal Corporation Risali (40 wards), Municipal Council Jamul (20 wards), Municipal Corporation Bhilai Charauda (40 wards), Municipal Council Khairagarh (20 wards), Nagar Panchayat Maro (15 wards), Municipal Council Baikunthpur (20 wards), Municipal Council Shivpurcharcha (15 wards), Nagar Panchayat Prem Nagar (15 wards), Nagar Panchayat Konta (15 wards) and Municipal Council Sarangarh (15 wards).

The bye-elections will be held in Ward 7 of Nagar Panchayat Devkar, Ward 11 of Municipal Council Thankhamhariya, Ward 5 and 11 of Municipal Council Bemetara, Ward 17 of Municipal Corporation Rajnandgaon, Ward 14 of Municipal Council Gobranavapara, Ward 12 of Municipal Council Kondagaon, Ward 29 of Municipal Corporation Bilaspur, Ward 8 of Municipal Council Bade Bacheli, Ward 9 of Nagar Panchayat Basna, Ward 1 of Nagar Panchayat Kurud, Ward 11 of Nagar Panchayat Magarlod, Ward 25 of Municipal Corporation Raigarh and Ward 5 of Nagar Panchayat Utai. 

As many as 7,78,420 voters including 3,87,530 male, 3,90,843 female voters and 47 third gender voters will exercise their franchise. Total 26,896 voters including 13,225 male voters, 13,668 female voters and 4 third gender voters will exercise their franchise in bye-elections. The voting will take place at 1,000 polling stations of 15 civic bodies while the bye-elections will be held at 37 polling stations. 

The Commissioner said that ballot papers will be used in the elections. The model code of conduct has come into effect, he added and said that 18 different identity cards of voters will be allowed on the day of voting. Nomination processes will be held online, he added. 

The commissioner made it clear that the district election officers will decide time of the voters and candidates found positive for Covid-19, so that they can exercise their rights.