Punjab panchayat polls witness incidents of clash, firing

Chandigarh: The panchayat polls in Punjab saw incidents of clashes, including firing, as the voting to elect gram panchayat members concluded amid tight security arrangements on Tuesday.

Voting for the posts of "sarpanch" and "panch" through ballots started at 8 am and concluded at 4 pm, officials said.

Though the overall poll percentage is yet to come, districts such as Fazilka, Sangrur, Pathankot, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala and Mohali saw a voter turnout of 67.26 per cent, 67.53 per cent, 68 per cent, 58.9 per cent, 57.99 per cent, 59 per cent and 65.15 per cent respectively.

The counting of votes took place at the polling stations, the officials said.

A firing incident was reported outside a polling booth in Sohan Sain Bhagat village in Tarn Taran district, leaving a man injured. Mandeep Singh was rushed to a hospital where his condition was stated to be out of danger.

A police official said a scuffle took place between two groups, adding that the matter is being investigated.

Another firing incident was reported from Khudda village in Patiala district, leaving one person injured.

A police official said several unidentified people arrived at a polling booth, allegedly manhandled the polling staff and took away a ballot box.

Subsequently, they left the ballot box behind in a nearby field, the official said.

Villagers alleged that some people tried to capture the booth. Congress MP Dharamvira Gandhi, who visited the spot, alleged that some unidentified people took away the ballot box and tore ballot papers as he demanded strict action in the matter.

In Kotla Mehar Singh village in Moga, gunshots were fired in the air.

A station house officer in Patiala's Patran was injured after unidentified people pelted stones outside a polling station in Karimpur village. The incident took place after some villagers tried to enter the polling booth after the voting was over and police stopped them.

In Ballagan village in Amritsar's Rajasansi, two groups clashed and pelted stones at each other at a polling booth.

Two warring groups clashed and pelted stones at each other in Moga's Masitan village. Similarly, two groups clashed in Kapurthala's Sawal village.

At a polling booth in Lohke Khurd village in Ferozepur's Zira, an unidentified person threw ink in a ballot box in an apparent bid to spoil the ballot papers. An official said the incident has been brought to the notice of senior officials for further action.

In Nawanshahr's Chakk Kalan village, a woman candidate sought cancellation of the voting after finding the incorrect printing of a poll symbol allotted to her.

Sub-Inspector Lakha Singh (53), who was posted on election duty at Dhilwan village in Barnala district, passed away, a police official said.

After he felt uneasy, he was taken to a hospital where he died, the official added.

Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian, along with his son, cast his vote in Khudian village in Muktsar district while Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains exercised his franchise in Gambhirpur village in Anandpur Sahib.

The State Election Commission cancelled the polling in Dalla and Pona villages in Ludhiana's Jagraon sub-division due to technical reasons. The next date of polling in these villages would be announced later, the officials said.

A total of 19,110 polling booths, including 1,187 marked as hyper-sensitive, were set up for the election. The state has 13,225 gram panchayats.

Polling for the posts of "sarpanch" was held in 9,398 gram panchayats. A total of 3,798 candidates were already elected unopposed for the posts of "sarpanch".

Elderly people, women and youngsters were seen standing in queues outside several polling booths since the morning.

The polls were held without the symbols of political parties as a consequence of the Punjab Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2024 passed by the Assembly last month.

A total of 1.33 crore people were eligible to vote.

There were 25,588 candidates in the fray for the posts of "sarpanch" and 80,598 nominees contested the polls for the posts of "panch", the officials said.

Around 96,000 personnel were deputed on election duty.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appealed to people on Monday to exercise their franchise.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday dismissed a bunch of petitions filed against the panchayat polls. The pleas were filed on several grounds, including challenging the ward demarcation, delimitation, regarding grievances about poll symbols, extension of time for nominations and rejection of nomination papers.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the panchayat polls on grounds of alleged irregularities in the nomination process, saying there will be "chaos" if courts start staying elections on polling day.