The voting for 22 zila parishads and 145 panchayat samitis in Punjab on Sunday remained by and large peaceful, barring stray clashes in some parts of the state. There was a clash between Akali Dal and Congress supporters in Mana village in Lambi assembly segment of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, where a few people were injured, five vehicles were burnt, and two damaged.
While the state election commission is still tabulating the poll percentage, it is expected to be approximately 69 per cent. The results would be announced on May 21.
The Akali Dal-BJP alliance has taken these elections as an exercise for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. There were 19,350 polling booths in which 50,000 police men and one lakh employees were deployed for election duty.
In Mana village in Lambi constituency in Muktsar district, there was a clash between akali dal and congress workers. The congress workers allegedly burnt five vehicles belonging to akali dal workers.
‘’The police force reached the spot, fired in the air and resorted to mild lathi charge to bring the situation under control’’ said Nirmal Singh Dhillon, Inspector General of Police (Bathinda Zone). He said that a few persons were also injured who were later admitted to hospital. The police has registered cases under relevant sections of the IPC. According to Police sources, there was clash between akali dal and congress workers in Ferozepur in which a congress candidate was injured. In another incident in Athwal village in Dera Baba Nanak Gurdaspur district, a congress candidate allegedly thrashed an akali dal worker.