48 pc turnout in Punjab rural polls; Opposition claims 'blatant malpractices' by AAP

Chandigarh, Dec 14 (PTI) A voter turnout of 48 per cent was recorded in the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections in Punjab on Sunday, even as the opposition parties claimed "blatant electoral malpractices" at the behest of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party.

Elections were held to elect members of 347 zones of 22 zila parishads and 2,838 zones of 153 panchayat samitis, for which more than 9,000 candidates are in the fray, officials said.

The polling began at 8 am and continued till 4 pm. The counting of votes will take place on December 17.

While no loss of life or major clash was reported from anywhere, there were reports of stone pelting and clashes between workers of rival parties at a few places, the State Election Commission (SEC) said in a statement.

The SEC has ordered re-polling at a few zones in Amritsar, Barnala, Muktsar, Gurdaspur and Jalandhar districts on Monday.

In the morning, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appealed to the voters to come out in large numbers to cast their ballot. Later, Mann and his wife went to a polling booth in Sangrur district to cast their votes.

Replying to reporters' queries, the chief minister trashed the opposition's charge that AAP was "misusing" government machinery in the polls, and said it showed their "admission to defeat".

Mann's remarks came after the opposition Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) accused the AAP of indulging in "blatant electoral malpractices" and slammed the SEC for "failing" to conduct the polls in a fair manner.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring alleged that a polling booth was captured at Babania village in Muktsar district at the behest of the local AAP MLA.

Claiming that polling agents were asked to leave the booth by some "miscreants", Warring said he spoke to the Muktsar SSP and filed a complaint with the SEC.

"Hooliganism will not be tolerated," Warring said.

The SAD also lodged a complaint alleging booth capturing in Babania.

Gurdaspur MLA and Congress leader Barindermeet Singh Pahra accused a presiding officer at Chanhiya village of casting fake votes.

Pahra said three women staffers deployed at the polling booth raised an objection to the conduct of the presiding officer, who was replaced later.

The incident was brought to the notice of the deputy commissioner and the SEC, after which an official inquired about it, he said.

In Tarn Taran's Kazi Kot village, AAP and SAD workers pelted stones at each other, while in Ferozepur's Betu Kadim village, two groups threw stones at each other.

At Bukkankhan Wala in Ferozepur, Jagdeep Singh, who is contesting the block samiti polls as a BJP candidate, was injured during a skirmish with rival factions.

Jagdeep claimed he came to know that some people were trying to indulge in booth capturing.

"When I reached there, the miscreants attacked me. I sustained an injury on my arm and my turban also fell down," Jagdeep claimed.

Polling was suspended at Varpal Kalan and Khasa villages in Amritsar district after a printing error was detected in the ballot papers, officials said.

Meanwhile, a government teacher couple died after their car fell into a drain near Sangathpura village in Moga district.

The incident occurred when Jaskaran Singh Bhullar was going to drop his wife Kamaljeet Kaur for election duty at Mari Mustafa village.

Chief minister Mann expressed grief over the incident and said the state government will take care of the education of their two children.

In five villages under the Samana constituency in Patiala -- Kotli, Bhedpuri, Dodhra, Sehajpur Kalan and Sehajpur Khurd -- villagers boycotted polling as a mark of protest against their inclusion in the Patran block instead of Samana.

Locals said the decision to shift their villages from Samana to Patran was unacceptable, as the Samana town is closer while Patran is nearly 30 km away, making access to routine services difficult.

Meanwhile, the SAD wrote to the SEC, alleging that an AAP candidate in Fatehgarh Sahib posted photographs of ballot papers on social media around 10 hours before the commencement of polling.

The photographs clearly show ballot papers bearing printed serial numbers, the Akali Dal claimed, adding that the act violated the model code of conduct.

Several leaders and ministers, including Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, MLAs Kuleep Singh Dhaliwal, Sandeep Jakhar and former minister Surjit Singh Rakhra, cast their votes early in the day.

Officials said 18,224 polling stations were set up for the polls, covering the rural areas of all the districts, including 860 hyper-sensitive and 3,405 sensitive polling locations.

Around 44,000 police personnel were deployed to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections, they said. PTI CHS VSD ARI