Punjab is all set to witness the curtain raiser for the 2027 Assembly poll on Tuesday as 7,555 candidates will battle it out in civic body elections.The State Election Commission has deputed around 32,000 police personnel and 35,000 election staff to ensure free and fair elections at eight municipal corporations, 75 municipal councils and 20 nagar panchayats.State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhari said, “We have declared 740 booths sensitive and 274 hyper sensitive. Adequate force has been deployed to ensure that no untoward incident takes place.”A total of 35.45 lakh voters will exercise their franchise to elect councillors for 1,896 wards. The eight municipal corporations include Abohar, Bathinda, Barnala, Batala, Kapurthala, Moga, Mohali and Pathankot. The polling will begin at 8 am and continue till 5 pm.Election officials, accompanied by police personnel, reached polling stations on Monday evening. The elections will be conducted through ballot papers after the Supreme Court cleared the process earlier in the day.Of 7,555 candidates in the fray, 1,801 belong to the Aam Aadmi Party, 1,550 to the Congress, 1,316 to the Bharatiya Janata Party, 1,251 to the Shiromani Akali Dal, and 96 to the Bahujan Samaj Party, while 1,528 candidates are contesting as Independents. During scrutiny, nomination papers of 713 candidates were rejected. The electorate includes 18,33,712 male voters, 17,11,635 female voters and 220 voters listed under the “other” category.These elections are being considered a litmus test for the ruling AAP and its legislators. The results are likely to have a direct impact on the MLAs as only a win in their respective civic bodies will guarantee a ticket for the upcoming Vidhan Sabha poll.Though Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann did not campaign in these polls, his mother was seen campaigning hard for several candidates. All ministers, MPs and MLAs also campaigned aggressively for their candidates.These elections are equally important for the Congress and BJP, who will be competing to get the maximum urban voter share. For the politically beleaguered SAD, a good win is crucial to prove that the party is on way to political resurrection, after facing several defeats since 2017.Elections to 4 MCs announcedThe State Election Commission has announced elections to four municipal councils — Dinanagar, Gurdaspur, Qadian, and Sham Chaurasi — on June 10. Nominations for these elections will be accepted from May 28 to June 1, while counting will take place immediately after polling on the same day.Strict vigil in PatranAfter the State Election Commission issued a warning to Shutrana MLA Kulwant Singh Bazigar, who allegedly hinted at “booth capturing” last week, the Commission has directed the Patiala administration to keep a tight vigil in the Patran municipal area.Officials on poll duty can’t voteGovernment officials on poll duty will not be able to cast their own vote as the option of postal ballot has not been extended to them. State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhari said these officials should have themselves applied to the returning officers in their respective segments