Punjab rural polls: SAD says its contestants rejected at AAP's behest   

Shiromani Akali Dal on Saturday said the nominations of several of its candidates for the upcoming Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections in Punjab were rejected at the behest of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders.

It slammed the State Election Commission for its alleged failure in supervising the conduct of free and fair elections.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former minister Daljit Singh Cheema also demanded the removal of Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Varun Sharma, claiming that in a purported audio clip, Sharma, along with some senior officers, were allegedly heard conspiring to prevent opposition candidates from filing nomination papers.

Addressing the media in Chandigarh, Cheema said the State Election Commission should have removed the Patiala SSP in order to restore people's confidence in fair elections, but it has "failed" to do so.

Police had earlier refuted the allegations and said, "It has come to notice that an Artificial Intelligence-generated video -- created with malicious intent to mislead public, spread misinformation, and disturb law and order -- is being circulated on social media."  Cheema, accompanied by party spokesperson Arshdeep Singh Kaur, claimed that nominations of several opposition candidates were rejected at the behest of AAP leaders.

He said that in Tarn Taran, 31 out of 72 nominations for Zila Parishad elections and 31 out of 63 nominations for Panchayat Samiti polls were rejected.

Similarly, 37 nominations for Panchayat Samiti polls in Gandiwind, 43 in Khadoor Sahib, and 56 in Patti were rejected, he said.

In Zira Panchayat Samiti in Ferozepur district, not even a single SAD candidate could file nominations, while for Qadian Panchayat Samiti in Gurdaspur district, 15 nominations of SAD candidates were rejected, Cheema claimed.

Similarly, SAD candidates' nominations were rejected in Jaiton, Ghuman, Raja Sansi, Jandiala, Patran, Ghanour, Ajnala, Baba Bakala and Fatehgarh Churian in other districts, he added.

Lashing out at the poll body, Cheema said, "What is the reason behind these rejections? This is the total supervision failure of the State Election Commission." He alleged that SAD made several representations to the state election commissioner but no action was taken.

The Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections in Punjab are scheduled on December 14. The votes will be counted on December 17.

The last date for filing nominations was December 4, while the scrutiny of nominations took place on December 5. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is December 6.