PANCHAYAT ELECTIONS: 49K in fray for sarpanch, 1.54 lakh panch as withdrawal of papers ends

As many as 49,142 candidates for the posts of sarpanch and 1,54,604 candidates for the posts of panch remain in the fray for panchayat polls, scheduled for October 15, after nomination papers of 3,683 sarpanch candidates and 11,734 panch candidates were rejected by Returning Officers.

Today was the last day of withdrawal of nomination papers. The state Election Commission is collating the final data of number of candidates who have withdrawn their nominations. The data will be released on Tuesday.

Reports coming in from various parts of the state suggest that party leaders in many places were trying to get the rebels to withdraw their candidature.

Meanwhile, the Opposition parties in the state have accused the state officials of working under the influence of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying that the nomination papers of their candidates were rejected on frivolous grounds.

Official sources in the state Election Commission have told The Tribune that they have received many complaints from Opposition parties over the rejection of candidates backed by them. The most common reason cited by the Returning Officers (Block Development and Panchayat Officer) for rejection of nominations is that the candidate was illegally occupying panchayat land, many Opposition leaders told The Tribune, adding that this was a false allegation. State Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said that they would knock on the doors of the court against these malpractices.

A delegation of SAD led by Dr Daljit Cheema and NK Sharma even met the State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhary. Chaudhary later told The Tribune that the Commission is seeking report from various Deputy Commissioners on the claims made by the candidates whose nominations have been rejected.

Though these elections are not being fought on party symbol, these are being fought by candidates owing allegiance to either AAP, Congress or SAD. As a result, pollsters and party leaders from all three parties are equally invested in the poll, which are eyed by all parties as important in building their cadre strength at the grassroots level in villages.

Maximum rejections in Gurdaspur

Maximum rejection of nominations are in Gurdaspur (1,208 for sarpanch and 3,533 for panch); Amritsar (247 for sarpanch and 1,387 for panch); Ferozepur (431 for sarpanch and 1,246 for panch); Patiala (384 for sarpanch and 713 for panch); and Tarn Taran (362 for sarpanch and 1,485 for panch)