On 25 Sep, Panjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann was admitted to Fortis Hospital in SAS Nagar. He underwent a series of tests and was diagnosed with bacterial infection leptospirosis which spreads through contaminated food or water. He was discharged 30 Sep after all his parameters returned to normal. On 23 Sep, CM Mann removed his Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Onkar Singh, shortly after four AAP ministers were asked to step down from the cabinet (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 39, Story 1). Onkar Singh, a close ally of CM Mann and a key figure in the CM’s Dhuri assembly segment, was appointed as OSD in August 2022 as a reward for his loyalty. Meanwhile, on 25 Sep, the Punjab State Election Commission announced Panchayat (village council) elections to be held across the state on 15 Oct. Voting will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. using ballot boxes, and the votes will be counted on the same day at the polling stations. Raj Kamal Chaudhuri, Punjab State Election Commissioner has implemented the Model Code of Conduct in all villages where polling is to be held, effective immediately and remaining in force until the completion of the electoral process. The filing of nominations will begin on 27 Sep, and the last date for submission is 4 Oct. Elections will be conducted for 13,237 Sarpanch (head of council) positions and 83,437 Panch (member of council) positions. The total electorate consists of approximately 13.4M voters. About 96,000 personnel will be deputed on election duty at 19,110 polling booths. In December 2023, the Punjab and Haryana High Court asked the Panjab govt. to submit a schedule for Panchayat elections, but it still took the govt. 9 months to conduct them.
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