Chandigarh, Oct 7 (PTI) The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) "completely vitiating" the panchayat election process by preventing many opposition-backed candidates from filing nominations.

Daljit Singh Cheema of SAD met Punjab State Election commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhary here to highlight how opposition-backed candidates had been "denied their right to contest the panchayat polls", according to a party statement.

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Alleging that "democracy is being murdered" in Punjab, the SAD demanded that senior officers be posted as observers in all districts during elections and that the entire polling process be videographed in all booths.

It also demanded strict action against AAP leaders as well as government officials who had "failed" to perform their constitutional duties and had "worked as henchmen of AAP ministers and legislators."

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Elections to 13,229 gram panchayats in the state will be held on October 15.

Cheema said on the appeal of the party, hundreds of candidates, whose nomination papers had been "rejected or who were weeded out during scrutiny on false pretext", had approached the party's legal cell with their complaints.

While forwarding the complaints to the state election commission, the SAD delegation urged the commissioner to take immediate action in all such cases to restore people's faith in democracy, according to the release.

SAD legal wing head Arshdeep Kler said a team of advocates have noted down details of several persons who approached the party with such grievances.

He said in case the commission failed to provide any remedy, the party would approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court for justice.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Congress too slammed the state government, alleging "misuse" of power ahead of the Panchayat polls.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring alleged the ruling AAP of "systematically undermining the democratic process to secure its grip on power".

Warring, in a statement, accused the AAP of "tampering with the election process by rejecting documentation of opposition candidates without justification, manipulating the list of reserved villages, and influencing the administrative machinery to favor their own candidates."

The Punjab Congress chief claimed that "intimidation tactics" were being used against opposition leaders and candidates.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa targeted the AAP government, questioning its ability to maintain law and order ahead of the Panchayat elections in the state.

He pointed towards the murder of an AAP worker in Tarn Taran by unidentified assailants on Monday.

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