Panchayat polls in Punjab in last week of May

Chandigarh, Apr 16 (UNI) The general elections to the Panchayat Samitis and the Zila Parishads in Punjab will be held on May 12 while the polls to the Gram Panchayats will be held in the last week of May.

Detailed date-wise schedule for the Zila Parishads and Panchayat Samitis will be issued later on. Likewise the date of poll to the Panchayats alongwith the detailed schedule shall be announced separately later.

However, the model code of conduct has come into force today with the issuance of the notification for the polls by the Punjab Government.

Earlier, the state government had recommended to the State Election Commission that the general elections to all the three Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) be held simultaneously.

However, based upon the reports of the Deputy Commissioners, the State Government recommended that conduct of elections to all the three PRIs on the same day shall pose serious operational problems.

As casting of three ballot papers by each voter will take considerable time and even the extended polling hours from 0800 hours to 1700 hours will not be adequate for this purpose and this may at some places even result in a law and order problem, the government recommended the general elections to the three PRIs be held in two phases.

The government also cited reports of some Deputy Commissioners who stated that they were facing problems in the appointment of requisite number of poll personnel for the conduct of the three elections simultaneously.

The State Election Commission considered the problems posed by the Deputy Commissioners and accepted the recommendation of the State Government to hold polls in two phases.

UNI HS RC RK1855