On 9 Oct, less than a week before the scheduled gram panchayat elections in Panjab on 15 Oct, the Panjab and Haryana High Court (PHHC) stayed the poll process in several villages. This was upon receiving around 1,000 petitions alleging irregularities and violations of norms during the filing and scrutiny of nomination papers (SDW Vol 2 Issue 41, Story 4). On 14 Oct, the PHHC dismissed the petitions and called for polls in all villages. The Court clarified that only the Election Commission reserves the right to cancel elections. The court mandated that the elections be documented through videography. The elections are being conducted to elect sarpanch (head of village council) and panch (member of village council) in each village. The elections were conducted in more than 19K polling booths in more than 9,398 gram panchayats (village councils) out of over 13K villages in the state. A total of 13.3M registered voters comprising 7M males and 6.3M females voted. In 3,798 gram panchayats, the sarpanches are already elected. 48,861 panch have also been elected unanimously. Tarn Taran district leads the way with 338 panchayats elected in this manner, followed by Rupnagar with 139, SBS Nagar with 136, Fatehgarh Sahib with 104, and Mohali with 65 panchayats each conducting unanimous elections. 77% voters cast their votes in elections marred by incidents of violence. Two govt. employees died from natural causes. Elections in 29 gram panchayats were canceled due to malpractices and will be reheld.
Like what you're reading? Subscribe to our top stories.
Liv Forum provides a digest of analysis on major issues facing Indian (East) Panjab and Sikhs globally.
In accordance with our Privacy Policy, we will never share or sell the information of our subscribers.
