Chandigarh, Oct 15
Polling for approximately 1.05 lakh candidates contesting for the posts of panch and sarpanch in Punjab began on Tuesday with voting happening through ballot boxes, officials said.
The voting will continue till 4 p.m. after which the ballots will be counted at the respective polling stations. The election is underway amid tight security arrangements despite calls for postponement by the Congress over alleged irregularities in nominations.
There will be more than 19,000 polling booths, covering over 13,000 gram panchayats.
A total of 3,798 candidates have been unanimously elected for the position of sarpanch, while 48,861 candidates have been selected for the panch. Elections in 28 gram panchayats have been cancelled, and one has been halted. As a result, voting will now take place for 9,398 gram panchayats.
Candidates have been barred from using symbols of political parties, in keeping with the Punjab Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2024, passed last month by the Legislative Assembly.
There are a total of 1.33 crore registered voters in the state, including 70.51 lakh men and 63.46 lakh women voters.
“Polling began at almost all polling stations. The deputy commissioners have been directed to ensure free and fair polls,” an official of the state election commission said.