Bhopal: New Market Traders' Association polls likely in March

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The polls of New Market Traders' Association may be held in the first week of March, after extending the term for a year in view of corona virus, said the president of the association Satish Gangrade.

The previous polls of the association were held in April 2018 and the next polls were supposed to be held in April 2021 after the completion of the three-year term of the existing executive body, said Gangrade while talking to Free Press on Thursday.

All 875 members of the association had unanimously decided to extend the term of the existing executive body for a year in view of corona pandemic, he added.

'Now it is high time the polls are held and the new body is formed. The cases have begun to decline and this would be the perfect time to conduct elections,' he further said.

The association has been running a membership drive for last two weeks to enroll more members. The association is anticipating to have about 1,100 members aligned with it. There are more than 1,300 shops in New Market.

Gangrade emphasized that many a shopkeeper in the market face the problems like not having correct documents or not being aware of the process and fail to enroll as members. The body is working to change the situation, he said.

The interested traders have submitted their forms and documents to enroll with us as members. We are currently scrutinizing their submissions. We approve new members only after proper verification. We are anticipating having at least 1,100 members by the time polls are held, he said.

He said that the association has actively participated in performing social welfare work too even during the corona times, apart from working for the traders in the market. The body emerged as a helping hand of the government during corona period too, promoting the governmentís guidelines and norms, he added.

Gangrade would be running for the post of president of the body for the third time. Each member of the association has 10 votes for 10 positions in the executive body, making the total vote count upto 11,000 this year.