Punjab withdraws notification for holding Zila Parishad, Panchayat Samiti elections

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, September 5

Punjab government on Tuesday withdrew the notification for holding of Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections, five days after the government had withdrawn its notification for dissolving of Panchayats in the state.

Interestingly, the notification issued today says that while the elections for panchayats will be held by December 31, the elections to Zila Parishads and Panchayat Samitis stand withdrawn.

The earlier notification by the state government to hold the elections for Zila Parishads and Panchayat Samitis by November 25, and for holding elections to Panchayats by December 31, was issuedon August 10. Today, the government has only withdrawn that part of the notification where dates for holding Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections were announced.

This notification was challenged in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and the matter was to come up for hearing on Wednesday. The notification for holding of elections to these two rural local bodies were challenged on the pretext that these were being held 11 months before their term expired.

According to information available, the top echelons of the state government were convinced of the “technical flaws” in the notification for holding this election too, similar to the flaws that later came to light in the notification issued for dissolving of the panchayats.