Mohali, May 19 -- Out of 1,175 nominations received, a total of 1,061 candidates were found validly nominated following the scrutiny of nomination papers today for the forthcoming municipal elections in Mohali district. Deputy commissioner-cum-district election officer Komal Mittal said scrutiny was completed for all civic bodies in the district, significantly narrowing the electoral field ahead of the final withdrawal deadline of nomination on Tuesday between 1am to 3pm. In Mohali municipal corporation, 165 candidates were found validly nominated out of 166 nominations received for wards 1 to 25, according to returning officer Amrinder Singh Malhi, additional chief administrator (ACA), GMADA. For wards 26 to 50, 146 candidates were cleared out of 158 nominations, informed returning officer Damandeep Kaur, SDM Mohali. This brings the total valid nominations in Mohali civic body to 311 candidates for 50 wards. 324 nominations were filed in total. Among the municipal councils, Zirakpur recorded the highest number of valid nominations, with 212 candidates cleared out of 259 nominations for its 31 wards, indicating a highly competitive contest. In Derabassi, 149 of 162 nominations were found valid, while Naya Gaon saw 134 valid nominations out of 144. Lalru registered 108 valid nominations from 131 submissions, while Kurali recorded 93 valid nominations out of 99 nominations received. The lowest number of valid nominations were reported from Banur, where 54 candidates were found eligible out of 56 nominations for 13 wards. With scrutiny complete, the focus now shifts to withdrawals, which could significantly reshape the electoral contests in several wards. The final list of candidates and symbol allocation will be completed after the withdrawal process, setting the stage for a closely watched civic electoral contest across Mohali district. Among Mohali municipal corporation's 50 wards, ward 49 emerges as the largest electoral battleground, recording the highest number of voters at 5,313, including 2,865 male and 2,448 female electors, along with three transgender voters, the highest such count among all wards. It is closely followed by ward 40 with 5,269 voters, ward 21 with 5,251 voters and ward 14 with 5120 voters, making these wards politically significant due to their larger voter base. In terms of gender-wise distribution, ward 49 also has the highest number of male voters (2,865), while ward 21 tops the list for female voters with 2,610 women electors, narrowly ahead of ward 40 (2,558) and ward 14 (2,555). On the other end of the spectrum, ward 42 has the smallest electorate with just 979 voters, comprising 538 men and 441 women, making it the least populous ward in the civic body. Another low-electorate ward is 24 (1,428 voters) with 656 women and 772 male voters. The overall electoral strength of the municipal corporation stands at 1,75,323 voters, including 90,484 men, 84,831 women and eight transgender electors, indicating a relatively balanced gender distribution despite notable ward-level variations in voter concentration. The ward reservation matrix adds another crucial electoral dimension, with 22 of the 50 wards reserved for women, ensuring a significant female-led contest in nearly half the civic body. Twenty wards fall under the general category, while two wards (4 and 8) are reserved for the backward class category. Three wards (26, 40, and 46) are reserved for scheduled castes (SC), while three more (5, 17, and 29) are reserved for scheduled caste women. The reservation structure significantly influenced party strategies, candidate selection and campaign outreach across Mohali's civic electoral landscape....