Panchayat polls: Over 2,400 nominations filed for sarpanch

A total of 2,494 nominations have been filed so far for the post of sarpanch and 5,772 for panch for the upcoming Punjab panchayat polls.

The last date for filing nominations papers is December 19.

The polling for 13,276 panchayats in Punjab is scheduled to be held on December 30 and the counting of votes will be done the same day, the state election commission said.

The nominations papers would be scrutinised on December 20 while the date for withdrawal of nominations is December 21, also the date for allotting the election symbols to the candidates, a spokesperson of the Punjab Election Commission said.

He said a total of 1,27,87,395 voters, including 60,66,245 women, are eligible to cast their votes.

A total of 17,268 polling booths will be set up while 86,340 personnel deputed on the election duty.

The poll expenditure limit for a candidate contesting for the post of sarpanch has been fixed at Rs 30,000 and for panch Rs 20,000.

Meanwhile, the AAP accused Congress leaders of stopping candidates of opposition parties to file nomination papers.

AAP MLA Harpal Singh Cheema claimed that the administrative officers were also allegedly playing in the hands of Congress leaders.

Cheema in a statement said despite presenting all the necessary documents for filing the papers, the no objection certificates are not being issued to opposition candidates.

He said that similar complaints were being reported from all areas of the state.

He demanded that the nomination paper filing date must be extended so that the opposition candidates can file the papers.