3-cornered fight in Punjab panchayat poll

Punjab is all set to have a three-cornered contest in the panchayat poll on Tuesday, with 1.06 lakh candidates, supported mainly by the Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress and the SAD, in the fray.

Being a rural poll and the saffron party’s outreach in rural areas still limited as compared to urban areas, few BJP-supported candidates are contesting the poll for the posts of sarpanch and panch in 13,229 villages.

BJP’s Punjab media head Vineet Joshi, however, insisted that the number of candidates supported by the party was much higher than in the previous panchayat poll, when the party had an alliance with the SAD and the latter had fielded a majority of the candidates.

With Opposition parties — mainly the Congress and the SAD — accusing AAP of misusing its position as the ruling party and alleging free flow of liquor and cash to woo voters in general category wards, besides involvement of gangsters to influence the poll, the State Election Commission has reiterated that the model code of conduct be followed in letter and spirit to ensure that the elections are “free and fair”.

The ruling AAP has insisted that no political or government influence is being used to either sway voters or woo them with enticements. “This used to happen in the past, when the Congress and the SAD were in power in the state,” said AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang. The dismissal of all petitions filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the poll has also come as a big relief for the ruling party.

Though the panchayat elections are not contested on party symbols, these are important because these help parties strengthen their workers’ base at the grassroots level. This time around, with the bypolls to four Assembly segments — Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal, Barnala and Gidderbaha — due after these elections, all political parties are giving their best to see their supporters win at the hustings.

“All arrangements are in place to hold the elections on Tuesday. Strict instructions have been issued to the DCs to ensure that law and order is maintained. A 168-page security plan for the polling day has been submitted by the police. There are 1,001 hypersensitive polling booths, most of them being in Amritsar, Ferozepur, Patiala, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur. Five policemen will man each of the hypersensitive booth, three each sensitive booth and two each normal booth. Besides, flying squads of the police will be on alert to rush to any place, if required,” State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhari told The Tribune. With a change in Punjab’s demographic profile, in some villages, second and third generation of migrants too are in the poll fray.

Meanwhile, polling teams reached the polling stations today. The entire election process will be videographed, including the counting of votes that will start after the polling on Tuesday itself.