Punjab: Vote count begins for zila parishad, panchayat samiti elections

Counting of votes for the Block Samiti and Zila Parishad elections began amid tight security arrangements.

Counting of votes for the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections in Punjab began on Wednesday amid tight security arrangements, said officials.

Polls were held to elect members of 347 zones of 22 zila parishads and 2,838 zones of 153 panchayat samitis on December 14.

A voter turnout of 48 per cent was recorded in the daylong polling, with over 9,000 candidates in the fray. Counting of ballot papers started at 8 am at centres set up across the state.

Candidates of all major political parties -- the Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal, and the BJP -- contested the zila parishad and panchayat samiti polls on party symbols.

On December 14, opposition parties Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal had accused the ruling AAP of indulging in "blatant electoral malpractices" during the polling.

Earlier, they had also targeted the Bhagwant Mann government, accusing it of using the government machinery to prevent their candidates from filing nomination papers and getting those rejected.