DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Elections to over 13,000 gram panchayats in Punjab will be held on October 15, the State Election Commission (SEC) said on Wednesday as it released the poll schedule.

Punjab State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhuri said that with the announcement of the election schedule, the model code of conduct for the gram panchayat elections has come into force with immediate effect. According to the election schedule, the filing of nominations will commence from September 27 and October 4 will be the last date. Nominations will not be accepted on September 28 as it is a public holiday.

Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on October 5 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 7, Chaudhuri said.

Polling will be held from 8 am to 4 pm on October 15 through ballot boxes. Votes will be counted on the same day at the polling stations after the completion of voting, he said.

Polling will be held for 13,237 posts of sarpanch and 83,437 of panch.

There are a total of 1,33,97,922 registered voters -- 70,51,722 males and 63,46,008 females. There will be 19,110 polling booths.

Chaudhuri said around 96,000 personnel will be deputed on election duty and 23 senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Punjab Civil Service (PCS) officers would be appointed as general observers to ensure smooth and peaceful conduct of elections.

He said the expenditure limit for a candidate contesting for the post of sarpanch is Rs 40,000 whereas those in the fray for the post of panch is Rs 30,000.

Early this month, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha had passed the Punjab Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2024, to hold panchayat elections without symbols of political parties.
(editor@dailyworld.in)