Voting peaceful, 76.93% turnout in Mohali
The elections for 266 gram panchayats in Mohali concluded peacefully with the district recording 76.93 per cent polling.
Rupnagar recorded an average polling percentage of 77.07. Rupnagar block registered 77.79%, Chamkaur Sahib 76.03%, Morinda 74.90%, Nurpur Bedi 79.66%, and Anandpur Sahib 77%, said Rupnagar Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain.
BJP backed-candidate Manraj Singh Kailey, 28, and Iqbal Singh claimed victory from Behlolpur and Jujhar Nagar panchayats, respectively.
In Badhi village, Harmeet Kaur won the post of sarpanch by securing one voter more than her rival. Gagandeep Kaur beat Kuldeep Kaur by 76 votes in Simbalmajra. Hari Singh Madho won from Madanheri by a margin of more than 250 votes. Gurdeep Singh Tinku won the post of sarpanch by 50 votes in Jakkar Majra.
In Bhagwanpur village of Dera Bassi block, Manjinder Singh was elected sarpanch after defeating his uncle (Taya) by 80 votes.
BJP-supported Gurnam Singh won the Badhmajra Colony panchayat polls by 200 votes. Sandeep Gir won from Nanumajra. Gaurav Sharma emerged victorious from Sambhalki, while Sanjay Rana won from Taroli panchayat. Mandeep Kaur emerged victorious in the high stakes Bhankharpur panchayat polls.
At Saneta, slow pace of voting irked village residents till afternoon. Irate villagers threatened to stage a dharna at the polling station as the patience of swarm of voters outside the polling station wore thin around 12 noon. The village has eight candidates in fray. In the morning, polling began at a brisk pace at 8 am with 13.2 per cent polling recorded till 10 am.
Majri block took the lead with 16 percent polling in the first two hours, followed by Kharar (15%), Dera Bassi (14.7%), and SAS Nagar at 7 per cent till 10 am.
Toss decides fate in 2 villages
Two villages in Mohali — Kambala and Chappar Chiri Khurd — elected one of their panches through a toss of coin as it was a tie. In Chapar Chiri Khurd (39-39), there was a toss of coin between between Zora Singh and Sudarshan Kaur. Sudarshan Kaur won the toss. In Kambala (54-54), Balwinder Singh won over Ranjit Singh.
