Chandigarh, Sep 20: The Election Commission on Thursday ordered repolling for Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections in 28 polling booths across seven districts of Punjab. The repolling is scheduled to be held tomorrow, i.e. September 21. The seven districts where the repolling will be held are Amritsar, Moga, Fazilka, Patiala, Faridkot, Bathinda and Sri Muktsar Sahib. The counting of votes will take place on Saturday, September 22.  In Punjab, there are 1, 27,87,395 registered voters, including 60,99,053 women and 97 third-gender voters.

Amid clashes between Congress and SAD workers, the voting to the Zila Parishads and Panchayat Samitis was held across Punjab on Wednesday. The voting began at 8 am and continued till 4. A total of 17,268 polling booths will be set up and 86,340 personnel will be put on election duty. Reports inform that nearly 50,000 Punjab police personnel were pressed into service during Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) accused the ruling party of electoral fraud. According to reports by PTI, Former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal alleged that a large number of Congress workers, brandishing swords, were involved in booth capturing. Earlier, the Akali Dal had earlier sought deployment of paramilitary forces for ensuring free and fair polls. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Several SAD Workers Booked for Thrashing Congress Worker in Muktsar During Punjab Rural Polls.

It must be noted that the opposition parties including AAP, Akali Dal and BJP had accused the state government of murdering democracy for allegedly stopping their candidates from participating in the upcoming polls by resorting to hooliganism.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 20, 2018 01:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).