55% votes cast by 4 pm in Amritsar dist

About 55 per cent voting for 664 panchayats of the district took place till 4 pm on Tuesday. Barring minor incidents, the voting was completely peaceful.

Though the voting time was from 8 am to 4 pm, due to the long queue of voters at many places, the election staff had to give more time to voters.

Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney, confirming that nearly 55 per cent votes had been cast, stated that the actual number of votes polled for panchayat elections could be higher. She said the exact figure would be available tomorrow.

The DC inspected several villages where voting was in progress. She informed that there were a total of 856 panchayats in the district, out of which 192 villages were elected unanimously while 1,030 booths were set up for the election of 664 panchayats today.

The Deputy Commissioner congratulated and thanked the voters of the district for voting peacefully for the grassroots institution of democracy. She said people cast their votes with great enthusiasm, giving evidence of collective wisdom. She said that counting had been completed in some places but was still on at many other.