Voting Begins for Punjab Panchayat Elections

Chandigarh: Amid a cold wave sweeping the state, the voting for panchayat elections began across Punjab’s rural belt on Sunday. The State Election Commission (SEC) officials said over 1.27 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the panchayat (village council) elections. The polling is being held for 13,276 panchayats.

Though the voting, which started at 8 a.m. at 17,268 polling booths, was slow initially, people braved the cold conditions to come out and cast vote. In some of the polling stations, enthusiastic voters were standing in long queues early in the morning. These included many women. The Punjab Police has made adequate security arrangements for the panchayat elections.

While there are 28,375 Sarpanch (village headman) candidates in the fray for the 13,276 panchayats in Punjab, 104,027 candidates are trying their luck for the post of Panch (village council member). (IANS)

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