Elections to the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation are scheduled for December 17 and the parties are girding up their loins to contest all the 26 seats in 26 wards of Chandigarh.
The Congress, Bhartiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have all claimed that anyone wishing to contest the election on the party’s ticket can apply and now all three parties are in the process of fulfilling that promise. The three parties have finalised the procedure for taking applications from would-be candidates.
This procedure does of course demonstrate a commitment to democracy, but beyond that, it demonstrates sound financial acumen. Every application must be accompanied by a fee. The Congress Party ticket application fee has been set at a very modest rupees one thousand. The fee that must accompany an application for the Bahujan Samaj ticket is slightly costlier at rupees one thousand one hundred. Most costly of all is the application fee for BJP tickets – rupees three thousand.
The application amount is non refundable. Sources say that hundreds of candidates have already submitted applications to three parties. For example, The Congress party has received 300 applications, netting the party a tidy three lakh. Congress party strongmen – including Cabinet Minister and Chandigarh MP Pawan Kumar Bansal met today to discuss candidate selection.
The Bahujan Samaj Party has already completed the selection process but the situation is still fluid in the Congress and the BJP. Would-be Congress candidates had until Friday to submit their applications, while Saturday evening is the deadline for those hoping to get a BJP ticket. So far, it is learnt that the BJP has received more than 100 applications so, like the Congress, the BJP too is richer by three lakh.
The Bahujan Samaj Party has completed its procedure of taking applications and in majority of the wards, the party has finalised the candidates. Only a few wards are left where the candidtates are yet to be decided.
These parties are claiming that anyone can apply for a ticket for the MC elections and they have apparently institutionalized the process, complete with forms and a fee, but does a political outsider really stand a chance of getting a ticket? That will soon be seen.
Will we see that tickets have been given on the basis of their claimed procedure? Or will the tickets go to pre-selected candidates, with the procedure merely an eye-wash.
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