Punjab Cong seeks postponement of panchayat polls amid irregularities

The Punjab Congress has sought postponement of the panchayat polls slated for Tuesday, alleging irregularities in the nomination process and also apprehending irregularities during the counting of votes.

A delegation of the Congress, led by leader of opposition in the Punjab Assembly and senior party leader Partap Singh Bajwa, on Monday met the Punjab State Election Commissioner here and urged that the polls be deferred by three weeks.

Elections to 13,229 gram panchayats are slated to be held on October 15.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting here, Bajwa said the delegation has requested the state election commissioner to postpone the panchayat elections by three weeks.

He alleged that "massive irregularities" were committed during the nomination process as nominations of many opposition-back candidates were "wrongfully" rejected.

Many candidates were not given no-objection certificates (NOC) required during the nominations filing, he alleged.

Many people, whose nominations w