Panchayat polls in Punjab on Dec 30

The elections to 13,276 panchayats in Punjab will be held on December 30, State Election Commissioner Jagpal Singh Sandhu said Friday.

With the announcement, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force immediately, Sandhu said, adding that it will be in force till the completion of the electoral process.

He further said that the process of filing the nominations would commence on December 15 and conclude on December 19.

The nomination papers would be scrutinized on December 20 and the date for withdrawal of the nominations as well as the allotment of election symbols to the candidates is December 21, he said.

The voting would be held on December 30 from 8 am till 4 pm and the votes will be counted on the same day, he added.

A total of 86,340 personnel will be deputed on election duty with 40 to 50 observers to ensure smooth and peaceful conduct of the polls at the 17,268 polling booths, he said.

Sandhu said 13,276 Sarpanches and 83,831 Panches will be elected by 1,27,87,395 registered voters, of which 66,88,245 are male, 60,66,245 are female and 97 belong to the third gender.

The State Election Commissioner further said that the expenditure limit for a candidate contesting for the post of Sarpanch was Rs 30,000 and for the post of Panch, the limit was Rs 20,000.