14 october 2024 : The Punjab Congress has requested a three-week postponement of the upcoming panchayat elections scheduled for Tuesday, citing concerns over irregularities in the nomination process and potential issues during the vote counting.
A delegation led by Partap Singh Bajwa, the leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly, met with the Punjab State Election Commissioner on Monday to present their case. Elections for 13,229 gram panchayats are set for October 15.
After the meeting, Bajwa told reporters that the delegation urged the election commissioner to delay the panchayat elections by three weeks. He alleged that significant irregularities occurred during the nomination process, including the wrongful rejection of nominations for many opposition-backed candidates.
He claimed that numerous candidates were denied the necessary no-objection certificates (NOCs) needed for filing nominations. Several individuals whose nominations were allegedly unjustly rejected have already approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Bajwa noted.
“We want the election process to be postponed by three weeks. We do not seek a cancellation of the panchayat elections,” he stated.
Bajwa also claimed that the voters’ list from January 1, 2023, was being used for the panchayat elections instead of the January 1, 2024 list, which was used during the Lok Sabha elections. This means many voters who participated in the Lok Sabha elections would be unable to vote in the panchayat elections.
Furthermore, Bajwa accused the ruling AAP of printing counterfeit ballot papers in each village for the positions of ‘sarpanch’ and ‘panch’ to manipulate the elections. He demanded that holograms be affixed to the ballot papers to prevent fraud.
“We also have concerns about potential irregularities during the vote counting process,” he added.
