Even as Opposition parties are crying foul over the rejection of their nomination papers for the panchayat samiti and zila parishad elections, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already got an upper hand with 195 of its candidates from 15 zila parishad and 181 block samiti seats elected unopposed six days before the elections.
Except for one Independent candidate who was elected unopposed in Nawanshahr, the remaining were all from the AAP.
State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhari, however, said they have taken corrective action by transferring the panchayat officer in Amloh, Balpinder Singh, after he was found involved in political activities. “Earlier, we issued a show-cause notice to an official in Dera Bassi who was absent during office hours,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Punjab BJP unit has claimed that nomination papers of about one-third candidates of the party have been rejected.
“This is dictatorship. Our candidates were threatened by the police and relatives of many candidates were picked up to force them to withdraw their nominations,” said BJP general secretary Anil Sarin. The party had filed 1,932 nomination papers, but 690 of them have been rejected, he said.
Also read: Nominations rejected at AAP's behest, claims SAD
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