Amritsar, Punjab, India, May 29: Counting of votes for the Punjab civic body elections commenced on Friday across multiple counting centres under stringent security arrangements to ensure a peaceful and orderly process.
Polling for 75 Municipal Councils and 20 Nagar Panchayats was held on May 26, with 7,555 candidates in the fray for positions across Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils, and Nagar Panchayats.According to election officials, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded 1,801 candidates, the Congress 1,550, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 1,316, while the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) put forward 1,251 candidates.
Officials reached the counting centres early in the morning and initiated the counting process amid heavy police deployment. Authorities said the arrangements have been made to ensure the proceedings remain smooth and free from disruptions.
At Ramdas, Ajnala SDM Charumita confirmed that counting began at 8:30 am and was being carried out across 11 booths.“Only authorised personnel and polling staff are being allowed entry. A single round of counting will be completed within an hour to an hour and a half,” she said, adding that 44 candidates from four major parties are contesting in the area.
Meanwhile, Ajnala DSP Inderjeet Singh said that a strong room had been set up at Government College, Ajnala, where ballot boxes and election materials were secured prior to the start of counting.He added that adequate police personnel, including 33 officers on law-and-order duty and four SHO-level officers, had been deployed to maintain security.“Everything is peaceful here, and we expect the counting to continue smoothly,” he told reporters.
The civic polls are being closely monitored as political parties await early trends and final results across Punjab.