Chandigarh, December 18
The Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections in Punjab were marred by blatant misuse of power, with ruling party legislators and their supporters storming counting booths, obstructing opposition representatives and bending government machinery to their advantage. Democratic norms were trampled as intimidation, booth capturing and manipulation of the process turned the exercise into a mockery of free and fair elections. The electoral process was riddled with intimidation and manipulation at every stage. Police officials openly misbehaved with opposition workers, authorized agents were denied entry into counting booths and even identity cards of senior leaders were seized to obstruct participation. Ballot papers were brazenly torn when defeat loomed, yet re‑polling was refused, exposing the partisan role of the administration. From booth capturing to slowing down counts, the machinery of the state was bent to serve the ruling party’s interests, reducing the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections to a spectacle of ‘gundagardi’ rather than democracy. The allegations stand united across the Opposition spectrum, with Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP voicing them.
Accusing the AAP government of having ‘murdered’ democracy the moment it assumed power in Punjab, State Congress Chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said, “AAP may bask in the stolen glory of ‘sweeping’ the rural mandate but it knows pretty well where it stands. We know it. They know it. People of Punjab know it. They have not swept the elections, they have stolen these. Given the track record of AAP government with a compliant and obedient administration and police, I am not at all surprised over the results and trends but I am definitely satisfied with the performance of our Congress candidates against all odds.”
Warring further said that AAP may rejoice in manipulated and manufactured outcome of these elections, but in real terms its final countdown has begun. “The party will eventually be shown the exit door within a year from now. I congratulate each and every worker and leader of the congress party for the perseverance and performance against a hostile electoral system that the AAP government has thrust on the state.”
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal has accused that the AAP government initially did not allow the nominations to be filed to win the elections and then captured the booths on voting day. “Even on the counting day, the government’s high-handedness did not stopping. I want to tell the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, along with all his associates and all the police officers implementing these unconstitutional orders of this political turncoat that you can apply as much force as you want but the leaders and workers of the Shiromani Akali Dal will no longer be suppressed, nor will the Shiromani Akali Dal’s storm now stop at your hands.”
Meanwhile, BJP leaders – despite the party’s limited presence in Punjab’s rural belts – insist they cannot remain mute spectators to the brazen ‘gundagardi’ of the AAP government. Announcing that the baton rule triumphs over democracy in Punjab, BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh has strongly condemned the “blatant misuse” of power by the Aam Aadmi Party during the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections in Punjab, stating that democratic norms were openly crushed. Chugh said AAP MLAs, along with their supporters, forcibly entered counting booths early in the morning, blocked representatives of opposition parties and misused the government machinery to manipulate the electoral process.
Chugh further said that many AAP candidates openly tore ballot papers after realizing defeat. This, he said, amounts to the hijacking of democracy under the protection of the ruling party. He asserted that opposition candidates were neither allowed to file nominations freely nor were voters permitted to exercise their franchise properly and even on counting day, intimidation continued unabated. Such authoritarianism is steadily eroding public trust in the Punjab government. He made it clear that the BJP will not tolerate this baton rule and will fight at every level to safeguard democracy in Punjab.
