Patiala: The Punjab government has notified fresh elections in 28 wards of the Patiala Municipal Corporation and directed that the polls be held by Nov 18.The notification was issued by Local Government Department Secretary Ghanshyam Thori under Sections 7-A and 7-B of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976. It follows the Supreme Court’s Sept 28 order in SLP (Civil) No. 3894 of 2025 and connected petitions, which set aside the election in these wards.Fresh polls in two additional wards, also covered by the apex court’s order and taking the total number of affected wards from 28 to 30, are yet to be notified by the state government, said BJP Patiala president Vijay Kumar Kuka.Copies of the notification were sent to the State Election Commissioner for necessary action. The deputy commissioner, additional deputy commissioner (urban development), Municipal Corporation commissioner and the concerned sub-divisional magistrates also received copies, along with the monitoring committee constituted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice. A copy was also sent to the Controller of Printing and Stationery for publication in the Extraordinary Gazette.ReservationThe notification lists 13 reserved wards. Nine are reserved for women (Wards 22, 33, 37, 41, 43, 51, 53, 55 and 57). Two are reserved for Scheduled Castes (Wards 26 and 52), while two are reserved for Scheduled Caste women (Wards 1 and 45).The remaining 15 wards (4, 6, 12, 14, 16, 28, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 44, 46, 48 and 50) are unreserved.Judicial oversightAs per the apex court’s directions, the monitoring committee headed by retired High Court judge Justice Rajeev Sharma will supervise the process. Senior members of the High Court Bar have been nominated as local commissioners to oversee proceedings, including the filing and scrutiny of nominations, allotment of symbols and polling.All stages of the election process will be videographed, and the recordings will be submitted to the committee if complaints of irregularities are received.The case arose from petitions filed by opposition candidates who alleged that they were prevented from filing nomination papers during the December 2024 civic elections. They accused ruling-party workers of obstruction and alleged inaction by the police.In March 2025, the Supreme Court appointed former High Court judge Justice Nirmaljit Kaur as a one-member fact-finding commission. After examining the claims, the commission submitted its report in Nov 2025. The Supreme Court accepted its findings and annulled the results in the 28 wards.The re-election is expected to intensify political activity among ticket aspirants in the city. Observers say it will serve as a key test of parties’ organisational strength ahead of the next Assembly elections.