PANCHAYAT ELECTIONS: In a first, all 72 village heads elected unanimously in Tarn Taran’s Patti

Patti in Tarn Taran district is the only block where all 72 sarpanches have been elected unopposed followed by its nearby Naushehra Pannuan block where 56 out of the total 59 sarpanches have been elected unanimously.

As a result, no polling would be held for even a single member in gram panchayats of the Patti block in the district.

Patti and Naushehra Pannuan are part of the Patti Vidhan Sabha segment, which is represented by Cabinet minister Laljit Singh Bhullar.

Though the ruling party called it a step towards communal harmony and peace, the Opposition parties termed it a move to forcefully capture the power at the grassroots.

According to official sources, the situation in the border area blocks, Bhikhiwind and Valtoha, was also similar.

Out of the 90 posts of sarpanch in Bhikhiwind and 78 in Valtoha, 70 and 60 village heads have been elected unopposed, by the residents.

In Tarn Taran, 46 sarpanches out of 116 and in Gandiwind, 18 of the 45 sarpanches have been elected unanimously.

In Khadoor Sahib and Chohla Sahib, 18 sarpanches each have been elected unopposed out of 73 and 40, respectively.

Official sources revealed that out of the total 573 sarpanches in the district, 358 have been elected unopposed by the villagers. Similar is the case with 2,589 panchayat members.

The posts of 188 sarpanch have been reserved for the general category, 188 posts for the general women, 98 for the Schedule Castes and 99 for the Schedule Castes women. The district has four blocks — Patti, Naushehra Pannuan, Valtoha and Bhikhiwind.

In Gandiwind, Khadoor Sahib and Chohla Sahib blocks, hectic political activity was observed ahead of the panchayat poll, which is scheduled for October 15.