The Congress on Monday demanded that gram panchayat elections in Punjab, scheduled for October 15, be postponed for at least three weeks due to concerns of “administrative mishandling and the deprivation of numerous candidates of their right to participate” by the state’s Aam Aadmi Party government.
Partap Singh Bajwa, the leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, led a delegation that met the state election commissioner on Monday and submitted a representation seeking a delay in the polls for over 13,000 gram panchayats.
“We suspect that Aam Aadmi Party people are getting printed fake ballot papers,” Bajwa alleged after the meeting, according to The Indian Express. “In every village, they are getting 100 fake ballot papers published per 1,000 votes in every booth and are instructing their supporters to submit two such fake ballot papers along with their vote.”
The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party are alliance partners in the INDIA bloc at the national level.
Bajwa’s representation to the Election Commission read: “The chaotic and violent events that unfolded during the nomination filing process, especially on the last day, have not only undermined the sanctity of the electoral process but have also cast a shadow over the fairness and inclusiveness of these elections.”
He urged the Election Commission to consider postponing the polls “for a more organized and equitable process”, given the “widespread reports of clashes, administrative mishandling, and the deprivation of numerous candidates of their right to participate”.
Bajwa pointed out that there have been violent clashes and reports of coercion emerging from Makhu, Tarn Taran, Moga, Ferozepur and Fazilka, among other parts of Punjab. He accused the Aam Aadmi Party workers of attacking Congress workers and said that in some cases, prospective candidates’ nomination papers were snatched away.
“The arbitrary rejection of nomination papers without personal hearings, coupled with violent disruptions, has compromised the entire electoral process,” Bajwa wrote, pointing out that the Punjab and Haryana High Court
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday had stayed the elections for around 200 gram panchayats in Punjab over a “blatant abuse of power” by the state’s Aam Aadmi Party government.
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