Punjab votes for Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections; polling cancelled in two Amritsar areas

Chandigarh (The Uttam Hindu): Voting is underway for the Zila Parishad and Block Committee elections in Punjab. Voting will continue until 4 pm. Meanwhile, the Block Committee and Zila Parishad elections have been cancelled in Khasa and Khurmanian areas of Amritsar. Here, the AAP candidate's election symbol was incorrectly printed. It should be noted that this time the elections are being conducted using ballot papers, not EVM machines.

Punjab: Voting underway for Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections; elections cancelled in Khasa and Khurmania in Amritsar: Elections are being held for 347 Zila Parishads and 2,838 Block Samitis across the state. A total of 9,775 candidates are in the fray in 23 districts of the state. Around 90 thousand employees are deployed for the elections. Of these, 1280 candidates are in the fray for Zila Parishad and 8,495 for Block Samiti. AAP, Congress, Akali Dal, BJP and BSP are contesting the elections on their respective party symbols.

Based on the reports of the intelligence and police departments, the Election Commission has declared 860 polling stations in the state as hypersensitive and 3,405 as sensitive. Additional police force has been deployed at all these centers. The State Election Commission has made strict arrangements to conduct fair and peaceful elections. According to the Commission, for the first time, senior IAS and PCS officers have been appointed as observers in 23 districts. IPS officers have also been deployed as observers in Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala, Tarn Taran, Rupnagar, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Moga districts.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said during a press conference in Chandigarh on Saturday that 340 Aam Aadmi Party candidates were elected unopposed in the Panchayat Samiti elections. In addition, three Congress candidates and eight independent candidates also won without contest.