Campaigning for rural body polls ends in Amritsar, Tarn Taran districts

Election campaigning for the zila parishad and block samiti elections in Amritsar district came to an end this evening. On the final day of canvassing, Cabinet Minister Aman Arora, Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO and AAP leader Talbir Singh Gill addressed rallies in Jandiala Guru and Majitha in support of their party’s candidates.

In the Majitha constituency, MLA Ganieve Kaur Majithia campaigned for Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate Pawanpreet Kaur Nimbrewind, who is contesting from zila parishad zone Tarsikka. She held meetings in several villages and appealed to voters to back SAD’s zila parishad nominee Jarnail Singh Sandhu from the Kathunangal zone and block samiti candidate Sunita from the Pakharpua zone.

Amritsar district comprises 24 zila parishad zones and 195 zones under 10 block samitis. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has gained a significant edge ahead of polling, having already won 63 block samiti zones unopposed out of 195. The party has also been declared elected without contest in three of the 24 zila parishad zones. With these unopposed victories, 65 candidates remain in the fray for the zila parishad elections and 379 candidates for block samiti seats on December 14.

The district administration has completed all preparations for the polls. Polling staff will be dispatched to their respective booths on Saturday, while vote counting will take place on December 17 at designated centres.

Tarn Taran: The election campaign for the zila parishad and nine block samitis in Tarn Taran district concluded on Friday evening, ahead of polling on December 14. The district comprises 20 Zila Parishad zones and 165 zones across nine Block Samitis.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already secured victories in 12 Zila Parishad zones and 98 Block Samiti zones, with its candidates declared elected unopposed.

The seven Zila Parishad zones where polling will take place are Bhalaipur Dogran, Naushehra Pannuan, Manochahal Kalan, Kairon, Sabhra, Valtoha and Sursingh, with 16 candidates in the fray. Elections in the Khadoor Sahib zone have been cancelled after all five nominations filed there were rejected during scrutiny.

AAP has also swept the Block Samitis of Patti, Gandiwind and Bhikhiwind. All 16 candidates in Patti Block Samiti, home block of Cabinet Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, were elected unopposed. Similarly, all 23 AAP candidates from Bhikhiwind and all 15 from Gandiwind have been declared winners without contest.

The 12 Zila Parishad candidates elected unopposed include: Sewakpal Singh (Goindwal Sahib), Shobha Kumari (Mundapind), Gurdial Singh (Sarhali Kalan), Rajwinder Kaur (Pakhoke), Darshan Kaur (Sheron), Milkha Singh (Ghariala), Amrik Singh (Mehmoodpura), Jatinder Kaur (Marimegha), Angaddeep Singh (Gaggo Bua), Harjinder Kaur (Kasel), Shushma Rani (Adda Chabal) and Kanwal Gill (Plasaur).

The district has 492 villages, 572 panchayats and a voter population of 9,79,593, including 3,38,937 Scheduled Caste voters and 81,588 from Backward Classes, along with other communities.

While Patti, Gandiwind and Bhikhiwind saw AAP winning all seats unopposed, two Block Samitis—Nagoke and Chohla Sahib—have not seen even a single unopposed candidate. As a result, 51 candidates are contesting from 16 zones of Chohla Sahib and 55 candidates are in the fray for 15 zones of Nagoke.

In Valtoha Block Samiti, which has 18 zones, polling will be held only in the Dasuwal zone, where two candidates are contesting.

Polling parties will depart for their respective stations on Saturday. With the formal campaign period now over, candidates have shifted their efforts to direct, door-to-door interactions with voters.