Civic polls: SAD claims candidates denied NOC, seeks SEC’s intervention

Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday alleged that its candidates were being denied No Objection Certificates (NOCs) by the executive officer (EO) of the Majitha municipal committee and urged the state election commission to ensure justice for its candidates, failing which the party said it would be forced to approach the Punjab and Haryana high court.An SAD delegation led by Bikram Singh Majithia met the state election commissioner, Raj Kamal Chaudhary, and informed him that no party candidate received the NOC required to contest the forthcoming municipal elections.Majithia said following the denial, all SAD candidates filed their nomination papers along with an affidavit declaring that they had cleared all required dues and that their papers were in order.Alleging that the chief minister Bhagwant Mann's OSD Rajbir Ghuman was directly interfering in the election process, Majithia said, "We have learnt that pressure is being put on EO Ramandeep Waraich to reject the nomination of half of our candidates so that the SAD becomes ineligible to form its president."He urged the SEC to take note of the matter and ensure that the nomination papers of SAD candidates in Majitha were not rejected due to extraneous reasons.Majithia also registered a complaint with the SEC regarding the functioning of the Majitha EO. He highlighted that EO Ramandeep Waraich was admonished by the Election Commission of India in June 2025 during the Ludhiana Central bypoll, with a directive that disciplinary action should be taken against him.Despite this, Waraich has been given the responsibility of the executive officer in Majitha, he added.MSID:: 131136000 413 |