Punjab elections: Amarinder urges EC to consider one-day polling

Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh has urged the Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi to consider holding a single-phase assembly election in Punjab.

Expressing serious apprehensions over large-scale violence during the upcoming polls, Amarinder in a statement said, "Spreading the polling over two-three days, which the EC is reportedly mulling as per media reports, would be detrimental to free and fair elections in the state and suicidal for Punjab's democratic polity."

"The political atmosphere in Punjab has already been severely vitiated as a result of the 'goonda' and 'mafia raj' of the Badal government, which has unleashed a wave of terror and violence against the innocent people of the state. As the countdown to the polls begins, once the polling dates are announced, I seriously apprehend further aggravation of the situation," Captain Amarinder said in his letter.