Punjab rural polls: SAD says nominations of its contestants rejected enmasse at AAP's behest

Chandigarh, Dec 6 (PTI) The Shiromani Akali Dal on Saturday said the nominations of a huge number of its candidates for the upcoming Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections in Punjab were rejected allegedly at the behest of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party.

The party demanded that the deadline for filing nominations in all areas where there were complaints of "high-handedness" should be extended in order to facilitate a level-playing ground for all.

It also slammed the State Election Commission for its alleged "failure in supervising the conduct of free and fair elections".

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former minister Daljit Singh Cheema also demanded the removal of Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Varun Sharma, claiming that in a purported audio clip, Sharma, along with some senior officers, were allegedly heard conspiring to prevent opposition candidates from filing nomination papers.

Addressing mediapersons in Chandigarh, Cheema said the State Election Commission should have removed the Patiala SSP in order to restore people's confidence in a fair election but it has failed to do so.

Earlier, police refuted the allegations and said, "It has come to notice that an Artificial Intelligence-generated audio -- created with malicious intent to mislead public, spread misinformation, and disturb law and order -- is being circulated on social media." Cheema, accompanied by party spokesperson Arshdeep Singh Kaur, claimed that nominations of several opposition candidates were rejected at the behest of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders.

The senior Akali leader called for nomination of independent observers for the election, besides demanding stringent action, including charge-sheeting of police and civil officials who allegedly "vitiated the election atmosphere" at the behest of the AAP government.

"The SAD will submit names of returning officers who acted in a partisan manner and appeal that they should not be put on duty during the general elections in 2027," he said.

Cheema said that in Tarn Taran, 31 out of 72 nominations for Zila Parishad elections and 31 out of 63 nominations for Panchayat Samiti polls were rejected.

Similarly, 37 nominations for Panchayat Samiti polls in Gandiwind, 43 in Khadoor Sahib, 77 in Bhikhiwind, 40 in Naushehra Pannuan and 56 in Patti were rejected, he said.

Due to this, Cheema said, a large number of seats were won by the AAP unopposed.

In Zira Panchayat Samiti in Ferozepur district, not even a single SAD candidate could file nomination, while for Qadian Panchayat Samiti in Gurdaspur district, 15 nominations of SAD candidates were rejected, the Akali leader claimed.

Similarly, SAD candidates' nominations were rejected in Jaiton, Ghuman, Raja Sansi, Jandiala, Patran, Ghanour, Ajnala, Baba Bakala and Fatehgarh Churian in other districts, he added.

Lashing out at the state poll body, Cheema said, "What is the reason behind these rejections? This is total supervision failure of the State Election Commission." He alleged that SAD made several representations to the state election commissioner but no action was taken so far.

It was condemnable that at a time when democracy was being "murdered" in Punjab, it chose to look away, the Akali leader said, adding that "this raises disturbing questions about the integrity of the State Election Commission." Cheema asked the poll body to immediately direct all returning officers to take self-declarations on dues and not reject forms on flimsy grounds.

The State Election Commission should direct block development officers not to reject nomination of candidates on the pretext of their inability to secure a 'no due' certificate and follow a transparent method to secure the same, he said.

The Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections in Punjab are scheduled on December 14. Votes will be counted on December 17.

The last date for filing nominations was December 4, while the scrutiny of nominations took place on December 5. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is December 6. PTI CHS RUK RUK