Early lead for AAP as 195 candidates elected unopposed; over 9,500 in fray

Ruling AAP has got an early lead over its rivals in the zila parishad and block samiti polls scheduled for December 14 as except one candidate, all those declared elected unopposed belong to the party.

Fifteen zila parishad and 181 block samiti have been declared elected unopposed by the election authorities. The state has 357 zila parishad and 2,863 block samiti seats.

Now, close to 9,500 candidates have been left in the fray for the rural polls.

This comes amid allegations by Opposition parties that their leaders were not allowed to file nomination papers by ruling party workers at several places.

State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhari told The Tribune that the poll panel acted in all fairness and dealt with errant officers strictly.“The panchayat officer in Amloh, Balpinder Singh, had been transferred as he was found involved in political activities. Earlier, a show-cause notice was issued to an official in Dera Bassi for remaining absent during the office hours,” he said.

“He has given his explanation to the DC Mohali, who will examine it and reply to the commission,” Chaudhuri added. According to data available with The Tribune, 15 zila parsihad candidates — 12 in Tarn Taran and three in Amritsar — have been declared as elected unopposed. Now, as many as 1,265 candidates have been left in the fray. Of 181 panchayat samiti candidates elected unopposed, 180 are from AAP, with 98 elected in Tarn Taran, 63 in Amritsar, 17 in Hoshiarpur (13 from Chabbewal assembly segment alone) and two in Malerkotla.

One Independent candidate was elected unopposed in Nawanshahr. A total of 8,314 candidates are now left in the fray. Meanwhile, with the state poll just 14 months away, AAP has launched an aggressive campaign. All MLAs as well as halqa In-charges have been told that the candidature in the next state poll depended on their ability to secure a win in these polls for the party.