SAD alleges large-scale rigging in Block Samiti, Zila Parishad polls, seeks judicial probe into SEC

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had stolen the Block Samiti and Zila Parishad elections in collusion with the State Election Commission (SEC) and the Punjab Police, and demanded a judicial probe into the functioning of the SEC as well as its immediate removal.

The SAD also announced that it would approach the State Governor and appeal to him to take action in the matter, in addition to pursuing legal remedies.

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Addressing a press conference here, senior leaders Dr Daljit Singh Cheema and Arshdeep Singh Kler said that, for the first time in the history of the State, a ruling party had captured polling booths by using arms and weapons, attacked opposition workers, and indulged in widespread rigging.

“Many of our workers have been injured at Qazikot in Tarn Taran; Talwandi Dasondha Singh in Majitha; Naushehra Majasingh in Batala; Kingra in Malout; Madhir and Babania in Gidderbaha; and at Dharamkot,” they said.

Alleging that AAP goons had indulged in firing at several places in coordinated attacks and had even used proclaimed offenders to attack polling staff in Talwandi Dasondha Singh, Dr Daljit Cheema said, “Democracy has been murdered. The SEC has not only failed to conduct the Panchayati Raj institution elections fairly but has instead become a hatchet of the Aam Aadmi Party. This has eroded the faith of Punjabis in grassroots democracy, and urgent corrective steps are needed to rectify the situation.”

Asserting that the entire election process had been vitiated as part of a planned conspiracy, Dr Cheema said that ballot papers were handed over to AAP candidates in advance. “Even though we brought the issue of the release of ballot papers by AAP candidate Amarinder Singh Madofal in Fatehgarh Sahib, ten hours before polling, to the notice of State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhary, no action has been taken in the matter,” he said.

Dr Cheema and Mr Kler further alleged that the AAP government prevailed upon government officials to delete votes during the elections. They claimed there were widespread reports of votes being deleted in Ludhiana and Rajpura to help AAP candidates secure victories.

They also cited instances of ballot boxes not being sealed properly, as witnessed in Majitha, and referred to the incident in which SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal got the gates of a polling booth in Deon Khera in Lambi opened after they were closed following an attack by AAP goons.