Chandigarh: As many as 925 candidates are in the fray for the elections to the three municipal corporations Amritsar, Patiala and Jalandhar slated for December 17. For 85 wards in the Amritsar MC, 413 candidates are contesting while for 80 wards of the Jalandhar MC, 305 are in the fray, a spokesman for the state elections office said. As many as 207 candidates will contest for 60 wards of the Patiala MC, the spokesman said. A total of 1,335 nominations were filed for 225 wards of three municipal corporations, the official said. After the withdrawal and rejection, 925 contestants now remain in the fray, the spokesperson further said. 

Elections to three MCs and 31 municipal councils and Nagar Panchayats will take place on December 17. However, polling to Mallanwala Khas Nagar Panchayat will be held on December 20. The state election commission had postponed the polling to Mallanwala Khas Nagar Panchayat after clashes between SAD and Congress workers earlier this month. The counting of votes will also take place on December 17 and result will come out on same day. Notably, it would be for the first time that voters would have the 'None Of The Above' option in the civic bodies polls in the state. EVMs sans VVPAT would be used for the polling.