Over 48 pc voter turnout in Punjab local body polls; repolls ordered amid booth-capturing, stone-pelting

CHANDIGARH: Punjab recorded over 48% voting in the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections on Sunday, with more than 9,000 candidates in the fray. However, the polls were marred by isolated incidents of stone-pelting, scuffles, and complaints of booth capturing, prompting the State Election Commission (SEC) to order repolls at four polling booths.The SEC announced repolls at Chahiyan in Gurdaspur, Babania and Madhir in Muktsar, and Chananwal in Barnala after reports that presiding officers allegedly absconded with ballot papers and instances of booth capturing. The repoll is scheduled for Tuesday.Clashes were reported in Tarn Taran’s Kazi Kot village, where workers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) pelted stones at each other. Similar incidents occurred in Ferozepur’s Betu Kadim village. Meanwhile, polling agents of Congress, SAD, and BJP lodged complaints with the Gidderbaha police, accusing AAP leader Sunny Dhillon and others of booth capturing. Dhillon denied the allegations, saying he was only touring villages to meet party workers and did not enter any polling booths.Polling was also cancelled in Khurmanian and Khasa villages of Amritsar due to a printing error on ballot papers. While the AAP candidate’s name was correct, the election symbol was wrongly printed in Khasa.Congress leaders raised concerns over administrative lapses and alleged intimidation. Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa accused the AAP of replicating Manish Sisodia’s “Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed” tactics in Punjab, claiming that pressure, manipulation, and misuse of administration had discouraged voter participation. He highlighted errors in ballot issuance in six villages of Kahnuwan Zone No. 9, which delayed polling by nearly two hours.Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring alleged gross electoral malpractices by the ruling party, claiming that AAP workers, supported by police and administration, resorted to booth capturing at several locations, surpassing even the BJP’s record of “vote chori.”SAD leaders Dr Daljit Singh Cheema and Arshdeep Singh Kler echoed these allegations, claiming that AAP colluded with the SEC and Punjab Police to “steal” the elections. They demanded a judicial probe into SEC functioning and its immediate removal, citing violence and attacks on opposition workers at multiple locations, including Qazikot in Tarn Taran, Talwandi Dasondha Singh in Majitha, Naushehra Majasingh in Batala, Kingra in Malout, Madhir and Babania in Gidderbaha, and Dharamkot.Rejecting the allegations, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann lauded the administration for conducting “free, fair, and transparent polls.” He accused the opposition, particularly SAD, of attempting to use gangsters to disrupt the electoral process. Mann said more than 2,400 opposition candidates contested the polls, indicating no misuse of official machinery, and blamed the opposition for indulging in “cheap tactics” out of frustration over defeats.Polling boycotts were reported in five villages—Kotli, Bhedpuri, Dodhra, Sehajpur Kalan, and Sehajpur Khurd, of Samana assembly segment in Patiala, where villagers protested being included in Patran block instead of Samana.The elections cover 347 zones of 22 zila parishads and 2,838 zones of 153 panchayat samitis across the state.



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