Panchayat polls: Punjab CM urges villagers to elect sarpanches unanimously

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday exhorted people to reject those using money and muscle power while campaigning for the upcoming panchayat elections and appealed to them to elect sarpanches unanimously

Sangrur : Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday exhorted people to reject those using money and muscle power while campaigning for the upcoming panchayat elections and appealed to them to elect sarpanches unanimously.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday exhorted people to reject those using money and muscle power while campaigning for the upcoming panchayat elections and appealed to them to elect sarpanches unanimously.

Addressing a gathering in his native village Satoj, Mann said panchayat polls are aimed at making people a part of democracy at the grassroots level and that his government is committed to ensuring that these polls are held in a free, fair and peaceful manner.

Elections to over 13,000 gram panchayats in Punjab will be held on October 15.

People should arrive at a consensus about the candidates to be elected in the panchayats, Mann told the gathering.

Any village that elects panchayats unanimously will get a grant of ₹5 lakh along with setting up of a stadium, a school or a hospital, whatever is needed, he said.

“Over 200 villages in Punjab have already unanimously elected their panchayats,” the CM said.

Mann further said people should discourage the use of money and muscle power in these polls, thereby becoming an integral part of the democratic process.

It will help in the holistic development of villages across the state and cementing the ethos of communal harmony and brotherhood, he said.

Panchayat elections in the state will be contested by candidates without party symbols. This will end groupism in villages and ensure comprehensive development of the rural areas, the CM said.

He said a sarpanch should be elected for villages and not for any political party or group.

The CM said his state government wants to strengthen the Panchayati Raj system and for this, intelligent and honest people must be elected.

Mann condemned reports of auction for the position of sarpanch, calling such practices a threat to democracy.