ZP polls: 30 elected unopposed, all from SAD

Thirty candidates, all from the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), have been elected unopposed as zila parishad members. The zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections are scheduled to be held in Punjab on May 19. There are 331 seats of 22 zila parishads in the state.

The poll campaign has so far witnessed one casualty, Congress leader Sukhraj Singh, in Patti block of Tarn Taran district, while clashes have been reported from other places too. The state election commission is receiving more than 100 complaints every day, an official said.

Poll-related violence has been reported mainly from Majha, where several Congress candidates withdrew after filing their nominations.

The SAD has claimed that the withdrawals are indicative of the Congress cadres joining the ruling party at the grassroots level.

Of the 30 elected unopposed, nine seats were filled in the Amritsar zila parishad (total seats, 21) and four in the Tarn Taran ZP (total seats, 17).

As many as 229 candidates, a majority from the SAD, have been elected unopposed to panchayat samitis. There are a total of 2,732 seats across 146 panchayat samitis in the state.

Amritsar leads with 69 candidates elected unopposed for various panchayat samitis, followed by Gurdaspur (36), Ludhiana (27), Faridkot (18), 13 each in Bathinda and Tarn Taran, 10 each in Patiala and Pathankot, nine each in Jalandhar and Moga, eight in Muktsar, three each in Mansa and Hoshiarpur and one each in Sangrur and Nawanshahr.

Congress-PPP tie-up

The Congress has left a few zila parishad seats for the People's Party of Punjab (PPP), including two in Hoshiarpur and one each in Ludhiana and Tarn Taran. The Congress has also tied up with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), mainly in Doaba districts such as Nawanshahr and Jalandhar.