MCG polls: BJP, INLD to contest on party symbol

GURUGRAM: With the date for the Gurugram municipal elections nearing, major political parties have begun preparations to win the confidence of over five lakh voters in the Millennium City.

In the run up to the polls, Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) have announced that they will fight the election on their own party symbols.

INLD leader and former Haryana Assembly Speaker Gopi Chand Gehlot made the announcement on Saturday, with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar made the announcement of behalf of his party on Sunday.

Surprisingly, Congress has gone back on its initial claims and decided to not contest the polls on the party symbol.

Senior Congress leader Captain Ajay Yadav expressed disappointment over the decision, but said the party will support the candidates.

"It is important that a party must try to get support from the ground level, and thereby success in the civic elections is important to us as a party. Though I disapprove of the decision of the party to not have a party symbol, we will back our candidates," said Yadav.

The process of filing nominations will take place between September 8 and September 13, with September 10 being an off on Sunday.

The nomination papers will be scrutinised on September 14. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is September 15, between 11 am and 3 pm. After 3pm, the process of allotting symbols and setting up of polling stations will be done by district officials.

Voting for 35 wards in the city will be held on September 24. The process of counting and declaration of results will begin on the same day, after the culmination of the voting process.

Rs 5 lakh has been set as the limit on campaign expenditure for candidates.