Chandigarh

In the recent gram panchayat elections in Punjab, a notable voter turnout of 77% was reported, according to State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhuri. Mansa district led with the highest turnout at 83.27%, while Tarn Taran had the lowest at 64.40%. Other districts recorded various participation rates, with Amritsar at 68.12%, Bathinda at 79.43%, and Mohali at 76.93%.

Unfortunately, the elections were marred by incidents of violence, with two shooting incidents injuring several people in Tarn Taran and Patiala. Additionally, two government employees, Lakha Singh and Amarinder Singh, tragically died due to health issues while on polling duty. The polling took place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for over 1.05 lakh candidates vying for panch and sarpanch positions, using ballot boxes.

Despite the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the elections to proceed without interruptions, polling was cancelled in some areas, including Dalla and Pona villages due to technical issues. In total, 3,798 candidates were elected as sarpanch, while 48,861 were elected as panch. Punjab has around 1.33 crore registered voters, with the elections emphasizing a non-partisan approach, as candidates were not allowed to use political party symbols following a recent legislative amendment.