The polling commenced at 8 am and was scheduled to continue until 4 pm, with vote counting set for December 17.
Elections were conducted to fill members for 347 zones across 22 zila parishads and 2,838 zones within 153 panchayat samitis. More than 9,000 candidates were in the contest, with an eligible voting population of 1.36 crore.
As per officials, the voting percentage by 2 pm stood at 30.21%.
Earlier in the day, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann urged voters through X to participate actively in the electoral process. He later visited a polling booth in Sangrur district, accompanied by his wife, to cast their votes.
In response to reporters’ inquiries, the chief minister dismissed the opposition’s allegations that the ruling AAP was “misusing” government resources during the elections, stating that it reflected their acknowledgment of defeat.
He emphasized that candidates from opposition parties, including Congress and the Akali Dal, were contesting the elections. “Where is the misuse?” he questioned and affirmed that the polling was proceeding peacefully.
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Numerous voters, especially the elderly and women, arrived at various polling stations early in the morning to cast their votes.
Several leaders and ministers, including Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, MLAs Kuleep Singh Dhaliwal, Sandeep Jakhar, and former minister Surjit Singh Rakhra, voted early.
In the meantime, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring alleged that a polling booth was “captured” in Babania village within the Gidderbaha assembly of Muktsar district, reportedly at the behest of the local MLA.
He claimed that some miscreants forced polling agents to vacate the booth and mentioned that he had contacted the Muktsar Senior Superintendent of Police regarding this issue and filed a complaint with the State Election Commission. “No hooliganism will be tolerated,” Warring asserted.
The Shiromani Akali Dal also filed a complaint, alleging “capturing” of a booth in Babania village.
In Tarn Taran’s Kazi Kot village, members of the Aam Aadmi Party and Shiromani Akali Dal clashed and exchanged stones. A similar incident occurred in Ferozepur’s Betu Kadim village, where two groups threw stones at each other.
Gurdaspur MLA and Congress leader Barindermeet Singh Pahra alleged that a presiding officer at a polling booth in Chaihya village was casting fraudulent votes. Pahra reported that three women staffers assigned to the booth raised concerns about the presiding officer’s actions, leading to his replacement.
This incident was communicated to the deputy commissioner and the state election commission, prompting an investigation by the relevant officials.
Polling was suspended in Varpal and Khasa villages in Amritsar district after a printing error was discovered on the ballot papers, officials confirmed.
Meanwhile, a couple tragically died when their car fell into a drain near Sangathpura village in Moga district. The incident occurred on Sunday morning as Jaskaran Singh Bhullar was transporting his wife, Kamaljeet Kaur, for her polling duty at Mari Mustafa village.
In five villages within Patiala’s Samana constituency — Kotli, Bhedpuri, Dodhra, Sehajpur Kalan, and Sehajpur Khurd — residents boycotted voting, protesting their reassignment to the Patran block instead of remaining in Samana.
According to locals, no votes were cast in these villages by noon.
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Residents expressed that the decision to relocate their villages from Samana to Patran was unacceptable, as Samana town is much closer, while Patran is almost 30 kilometres away, complicating access to essential services.
The SAD sent a letter to the State Election Commission, alleging that an AAP candidate in Fatehgarh Sahib had shared images of ballot papers on social media about 10 hours prior to polling.
These images reportedly displayed ballot papers with printed serial numbers, a claim the party stated constituted a breach of the model code of conduct. SAD leader Arshdeep Singh Kler called for a thorough and independent investigation into how the candidate accessed the ballot papers ahead of the voting.
Officials indicated that 18,224 polling stations were established to cover all rural areas in the districts. They identified 860 hyper-sensitive and 3,405 sensitive polling locations.
Around 44,000 police personnel were deployed, supervised by officers holding gazetted rank, to ensure free, fair, and peaceful elections throughout the state.
The State Election Commission, Punjab, appointed election observers and police observers, reaffirming its commitment to conducting these elections fairly and transparently.
Candidates from all major political parties — the Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal, and the BJP — are contesting the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections under their respective party symbols.
During the campaign, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party sought votes based on the initiatives taken by the Bhagwant Mann government.
Leading up to the elections, opposition parties criticized the Mann government, accusing it of using state machinery to hinder their candidates’ ability to file nominations or have them rejected.
