Low turnout, minor skirmishes mark civic polls in Patiala

Polling for the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections in Patiala district on Sunday remained largely peaceful, though voter turnout was subdued across most areas, with sporadic skirmishes reported from a few pockets. Officials attributed the low turnout to the wedding season and the polls falling on a Sunday.

While voting picked up marginally in some areas, the usual enthusiasm was missing in a majority of constituencies. Minor skirmishes were reported from Sanaur, Ghanaur, Nabha, Samana and Rajpura, where Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) factions alleged that outsiders were brought in by the ruling party to capture booths and cast bogus votes.

However, officers deployed on duty denied the allegations, stating that only voters carrying valid identity cards were allowed to enter polling areas. Tensions briefly escalated in Bhunerheri’s Behru village when Congress leaders intercepted vehicles and alleged that “outsiders” had trespassed and climbed walls to enter a government school polling booth. Police intervened promptly to disperse rival groups and restore order.

Voters cited both personal commitments and fear of violence as reasons for staying away. “It was a Sunday and I had to attend the wedding of a cousin in Moga. As most of my relatives live in nearby villages, we had no choice but to miss voting,” said Niranjan Singh, a resident of Sanaur. “In any case, no one wanted to take a chance of going to polling stations where violence was expected, as SAD, Congress and AAP are locked in a bitter contest, all eager to win at any cost,” he added.

Similar scenes were witnessed in Nabha, where many villagers chose to stay away from polling booths. Instead, small groups were seen in markets, while youngsters played cricket. “It is better to spend time playing cricket than fighting and attacking each other at the behest of these leaders,” some youths remarked.

The run-up to the elections had been marred by allegations of misuse of official machinery and claims that police were acting in a partisan manner to benefit the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). However, following intervention by the State Election Commission and the Punjab and Haryana High Court, extensive security arrangements were put in place.

Over 3,100 police personnel were deployed across 30 hypersensitive and 164 sensitive polling stations in the district. A total of 1,341 polling booths were set up at 946 polling stations.

Election Observer Vinay Bublani, Divisional Commissioner, Patiala, visited several polling stations to review arrangements and expressed satisfaction over the peaceful conduct of the polls. He said flying squad teams and other monitoring mechanisms had been deployed to ensure free and fair elections.

Patiala Range DIG Kuldeep Chahal and SSP Sartaj Chahal also visited polling booths and maintained minute-by-minute coordination with supervisory officers to ensure that “no irregularities or untoward incidents” took place.