Punjab civic polls see clashes, allegations of voter intimidation

Chandigarh: Amid reports of skirmishes, clashes, and allegations of attempts to influence voters and intimidate Opposition workers, nearly 61 per cent voting was recorded till 5 p.m. for Punjab’s civic body elections, which are being seen as a litmus test for the Punjab-ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, officials said.

Ballot counting will be held on May 29 for eight municipal corporations, 75 municipal councils, and 20 nagar panchayats.

The eight municipal corporations are in Abohar, Mohali, Moga, Bathinda, Barnala, Batala, Kapurthala, and Pathankot.

In Samana town in Patiala district, two factions clashed outside a polling station.

Several people were injured.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia alleged that in Majitha town, AAP workers, gangsters, and alleged goons, with the support of Punjab Police, indulged in booth capturing, violence, intimidation, and misconduct with women voters.

He alleged that armed AAP workers and gangster elements openly moved around polling booths under police protection, while the Senior Superintendent of Police acted like a “worker of the ruling party instead of maintaining law and order”.

He claimed that Congress candidates, Independent candidates, Opposition workers, and ordinary voters were subjected to intimidation and hooliganism during polling.

Majithia said he confronted the police and opened a front against what he termed government-sponsored terror and political pressure.

Likewise, voting at a polling booth in Nawanshahr town turned tense as Independent candidates Paramjit Singh Bakhshi and Makhan Singh Grewal engaged in heated arguments outside the booth over alleged voter influence.

The Shiromani Akali Dal filed a criminal complaint against Gidderbaha legislator Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon and his accomplices for booth capturing, assault, intimidation, and interference in the poll process during the elections and demanded that an FIR be registered against them.

The party also demanded departmental action against police officials present at the spot who allegedly failed to act against the guilty.

In a complaint submitted to the state Election Commissioner, SAD chief spokesman Arshdeep Singh Kler said grave incidents of booth capturing, assault, intimidation of Opposition workers, and blatant misuse of police machinery took place during polling at Ward Nos. 18 and 19 at D.A.V. Yaish School Polling Station in Gidderbaha town.

He said that legislator Dhillon, along with his personal assistant Jagtar Singh and supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party, unlawfully interfered in the polling process and attempted to influence and capture the polling station by force, intimidation, and the misuse of official machinery.

He said that such acts amounted to a direct attack on the democratic process and violated the fundamental principle of free and fair elections.

State Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring wrote to the Director General of Police and the state Election Commission seeking registration of a first information report (FIR) against all those circulating a fake audio recording attributed to him.

In complaints, Warring said this was a fake audio clip that had also been circulated seven years ago to malign and tarnish his image, and was now being circulated deliberately as elections to the local bodies were being held.

His reaction came hours after the Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission issued a notice to him in connection with some derogatory remarks made with reference to the SC community in an audio clip.

Meanwhile, the state Election Commission had deputed 32,000 police personnel and 35,000 election staff to ensure free and fair elections.

Of 7,555 candidates in the fray, 1,801 belong to the Aam Aadmi Party, 1,550 to the Congress, 1,316 to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 1,251 to the Shiromani Akali Dal, and 96 to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), while 1,528 are Independents and 13 are from other parties.

The electorate comprises 18,33,712 male voters, 17,11,635 women voters, and 220 voters listed under the “other” category.

IANS