Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday announced that it would contest the elections to 102 municipal councils and nine municipal corporations on the party symbol.A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the party’s halka in-charges and district presidents which was presided over by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal at the party headquarters in Chandigarh, according to a party release.
The meeting also authorised all halka in-charges to appoint block-level agents (BLOs) to assist in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state.
Party vice-president Daljeet Singh Cheema said the meeting took strong notice of the “breakdown in the law and order situation in the state”. He said recent bomb blasts near the BSF headquarters in Jalandhar and the army headquarters in Amritsar had proved that “no one was safe”.
“Instead of owning moral responsibility for the incident, the chief minister had resorted to a blame game without presenting proof of the same,” he added.
“It is surprising that while the chief minister is blaming the BJP-led central government for the blasts, the state DGP is holding Pakistan-based agencies responsible for the same,” he added.
Talking to newsmen after the meeting, Sukhbir said the so-called “Shukrana Yatra” being undertaken by the CM was nothing but a “distraction’.
{{/usCountry}}Talking to newsmen after the meeting, Sukhbir said the so-called “Shukrana Yatra” being undertaken by the CM was nothing but a “distraction’.
{{/usCountry}}On the new anti-sacrilege law, the party said while it wanted the most severe punishment to be awarded to those indulging in the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, ‘granthis’ and gurdwara committees should not be persecuted in such cases.
Cong delegation meets state election commissioner over civic poll concerns
A delegation of the Punjab Congress on Thursday met the state election commissioner and alleged non-cooperation by the local administration in the run-up to the local bodies elections in the state.
The delegation, led by Punjab Congress general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Sandhu, included senior party leaders and former ministers Balbir Singh Sidhu, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Sukhpal Singh Bhullar and Ashwani Sharma.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Sandhu said the party raised concerns regarding the conduct of elections to municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats, alleging that opposition parties were not receiving adequate cooperation from the local authorities on administrative matters related to the polls.
He claimed that complaints and objections submitted by the Congress were allegedly being ignored by officials. “The local administration is behaving in a hostile manner towards the opposition,” Sandhu alleged, while urging the State Election Commission to issue directions to the district authorities to ensure a fair and transparent election process.
The Congress delegation also flagged alleged discrepancies in voter lists and ward mapping. According to the party, electoral rolls in several local bodies do not properly correspond with notified ward boundaries, leading to large variations in voter strength across wards.
Sandhu alleged that while some wards had nearly 2,000 voters, others had as many as 5,000, raising concerns over uniformity and representation.