Two-colour ballot paper for rural polls

Officials of the district administration and police of all four districts of Doaba, including Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr have completed their preparations for the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections, scheduled to take place on December 14 (Sunday). The voting is scheduled to take place from 8 am to 4 pm.

The officials said that the voters would receive two ballot papers --- a yellow one for marking the choice for the Zila Parishad candidate and a white one for the Panchayat Samiti candidate.

The Jalandhar rural police have implemented stringent security measures to ensure peaceful elections for which over 2,500 police personnel have been deployed across the district. Surveillance shall be underway 24X7 at 880 polling locations and 1,126 polling booths. A total of 30 patrolling parties shall work round the clock. The SPs, DSPs and SHOs have been directed to conduct checks and searches.

The Jalandhar police have identified 65 booths as hypersensitive, 284 as sensitive and 531 as non-sensitive locations. Even the gurdwaras, religious institutions and deras shall remain under special surveillance. The teams will also remain alert along the riverbanks, isolated areas and markets.

SSP Jalandhar Rural Harvinder Singh Virk has asked the public to report any untoward incident on the helpline number 112 or Jalandhar Rural Police Control Room (78373-40100). In Jalandhar, there are 80 candidates for 25 Zila Parishad zones and 582 for 191 Panchayat Samiti zones. A total of 1,683 booths will be set up with five-member polling parties.

The administration has imposed restrictions on public gatherings and meetings in the polling areas for the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections. As per the orders issued by the Additional District Magistrate, no public meetings will be allowed in the polling areas from 4 pm on December 12 to 4 pm on December 14. However, door-to-door campaigning by groups of four people has been permitted. Outsiders, including political leaders and supporters, have not been allowed in the polling areas.