Chandigarh, Dec 14—Polling for the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections began on Sunday across Punjab, with voters casting ballots at more than 19,000 booths in 23 districts, officials said. The voting window opened at 8 a.m. and closed at 4 p.m., with result counting slated for December 17.
About 1.36 crore citizens are eligible to vote for representatives in 347 Zila Parishad zones and 2,838 Panchayat Samiti zones. The main parties—Aam Aadmi Party, Congress party, Shiromani Akali Dal, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, and SAD (Amritsar)—have fielded candidates under their respective symbols.
Election authorities identified 860 hyper‑sensitive and 3,400 sensitive polling stations, deploying roughly 44,000 police officers to maintain order. The State Election Commission has also put observers—both election and police—to uphold fairness and transparency.
Amid accusations of government abuse of power, a purported audio clip appeared online. In it, Akali Dal President Sukhbir Badal alleged that Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Varun Sharma and other officers were conspiring to block opposition candidates from filing nominations.
Earlier, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann denounced the Congress and Akali Dal for what he called a “high‑handedness” attack on the government, claiming they had already accepted defeat in the elections. He criticized former CM and Lok Sabha Member Charanjit Singh Channi for making “baseless” statements that mislead the public, arguing that Channi had implicitly admitted his party’s defeat. Mann said these parties, sensing defeat, resort to diversionary tactics to save face. He noted that the Congress has repeatedly been rejected by voters, while the Akali Dal has largely avoided contesting by‑elections.
Mann challenged Channi to substantiate the “baseless” allegations and to show evidence of any extra ballots that were supposedly printed, accusing the “self‑proclaimed messiah of weaker sections” of acting only for the spotlight. He added that neither Channi nor his party have ever reached out to the people, explaining why they continue to face electoral rejection.
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