Amritsar district records lowest turnout in zila parishad, block samiti polls, Malerkotla highest

Amritsar recorded the lowest voter turnout in Punjab in the Sunday’s zila parishad and block samiti polls, with only 38.62 per cent of the electors coming out to vote.

The highest 56.37 per cent turnout was recorded in Malerkotla, according to State Election Commission data released today.

On Sunday, only 62.96 lakh of the 1.30 crore voters came out to vote, a turnout of 48.4 per cent, the lowest in recent decades. Eleven districts recorded less than 50 per cent voting. In Amritsar, re-poll has been ordered on nine booths. Incidents of violence were reported in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts.

The Punjab Opposition parties on Monday trained their guns on state’s ruling AAP over low turnout, accusing it of using strong-arm tactics to stop people from voting. Ruling party general secretary Baltej Pannu dismissed the charges, terming the elections most “transparent and peaceful” in recent years.

Meanwhile, according to AAP sources, the party’s Punjab affairs in-charge Manish Sisodia held discussions with some of the MLAs over it.

Though ruling party leaders say they were sure of a big win, AAP poll strategists have already launched two surveys to assess their popularity. A source said survey teams would not only assess the popularity of AAP legislators but also of the government’s performance.

The low voter turnout, especially in places like Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Patiala, has party leaders and poll strategists on the edge, especially at a time when the state Assembly polls are just about 14 months away.

Commenting on it, senior SAD leader Daljit Cheema and BJP’s Anil Sarin alleged that the low turnout was the result of “strong-arm tactics adopted by leaders of ruling AAP”.

“People decided not to vote to save themselves from the wrath of ruling party leaders. Such was their terror that at several places, sarpanches did not go to vote and asked their supporters to abstain,” Sarin alleged.

Cheema also rebutted the charge made by the ruling party that the Opposition could not find candidates to contest the polls, saying the “fear of being hounded by the ruling party and the police” led to their supporters refusing to contest the polls.

Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring claimed that people decided to “avoid a run-in” with the ruling party by voting against them.

“But the voters are fed up with the lack of governance and intimidation by the police at the behest of ruling party. That is why many Congress workers refused to contest these polls but say they are ready to teach them a lesson in 2027,” he said.

Congress MLA and senior party leader Pargat Singh alleged that the police and other officials “intimidated people”, which led to people abstaining from participating in these elections.

“The voting percentage in rural body polls has been falling over the past few years. But this time the pressure from the government officials was immense, forcing people to abstain,” he alleged.

Rejecting the allegations, AAP’s Pannu said, “In the past, the Congress and Akalis have always used violence to intimidate voters. The Opposition is crying foul because they know that their defeat is imminent. They have resorted to a false propaganda.