Govt approves village polls by Sept 30, to intimate EC

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, June 22

The Punjab government has given its nod for holding the Zila Parishad and the panchayat polls in the state. The Rural Development and Panchayat Department will now write to the Election Commission for issuing a formal notification for the conduct of these two important polls that come a few months ahead of the all-important Lok Sabha elections slated for 2019.

According to sources, the file pertaining to the conduct of the elections of the Zila Parishads, Block Samitis and panchayats has been cleared by the Chief Minister. “While the Chief Minister has given his nod for the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti polls to be conducted by August 31, the panchayat elections will be held by September 30,” they said.

In May, MLAs of the ruling Congress wanted the polls to be delayed as they wanted more discussion on them, following which Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh held a meeting with Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Sunil Jakhar.

“We have taken a decision following a nod from the Chief Minister and the file will now be sent to the Election Commission for a formal notification to be issued,” said Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa. “We have taken all pending issues into consideration while finalising the dates for these two important elections,” he told The Tribune.

The Punjab government has, however, not included the provision to debar individuals with more than two living children from contesting elections for Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). Earlier the state government was contemplating to amend the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act and debar those with more than two children from contesting.

“As for now we have not included this provision and there is no amendment for these upcoming polls,” said Bajwa, who once advocated this idea.

Due dates

• Zila Parishads (22): July 9
• Block Samitis (144): July 9
• Panchayats (13,400): August 9