Braving intense heat, voters queued up outside polling stations across several districts of Punjab on Tuesday as the high-stakes local body elections got underway.
The showdown is being seen as a curtain-raiser for the 2027 Assembly polls, with around 35 lakh voters set to decide the fate of 7,555 candidates.
Polling began at 8 am and will continue until 5 pm.
Foolproof security and other necessary arrangements have been put in place to ensure free, fair and smooth conduct of the elections.
The State Election Commission has deployed around 32,000 police personnel and 35,000 election staff for the smooth conduct of voting in eight municipal corporations, 75 municipal councils and 20 nagar panchayats.
State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhari said, “We have declared 740 booths sensitive and 274 hyper-sensitive. Adequate force has been deployed to ensure that no untoward incident takes place.”
Around 35.45 lakh electors will exercise their franchise to elect councillors for 1,896 wards across the eight municipal corporations — Abohar, Bathinda, Barnala, Batala, Kapurthala, Moga, Mohali and Pathankot.
Voting also began in 55 wards in five civic bodies where the ruling party has already won 12 seats unopposed after withdrawal and scrutiny of nominations.
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