{Panchayat Polls} Cong, SAD slam govt over violence, AAP hits back

Accusing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of rigging the panchayat polls Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring has said the Congress party will move the high court against malpractices and manipulation of panchayat elections.
Leader of opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa criticised chief minister Bhagwant Mann, who also serves as the home minister, for failing to ensure a peaceful electoral process, leading to widespread violence across rural Punjab. He highlighted the tragic death of a woman from Amritsar, who was affiliated with the Congress Party. The incident also left four others critically injured.
He also referred to the murder of AAP leader Rajwinder Singh from Patti block, Tarn Taran district, who was shot dead in broad daylight. “Both incidents, regardless of party affiliation, reveal a total collapse of law and order under the Mann administration,” Bajwa remarked, condemning the state’s inability to protect its citizens.
A few days ago senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema claimed that the party had received complaints of “large-scale rejection” of nomination papers of candidates from opposition parties for the post of sarpanch and panch from different parts of the state.
Responding to the onslaught of accusations, the Aam Aadmi Party on Monday said that the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress were responsible for poll-related violence in the state.
AAP leader and MP Malvinder Singh Kang expressed surprise over the statements and complaints of the Congress and SAD saying their own leaders were responsible for “hooliganism.”
He alleged that these parties had previously committed violence on a largescale during panchayat elections. He claimed that they had never allowed municipal and sarpanch elections to be conducted democratically and peacefully. “Today, they are shedding crocodile tears,” the Anandpur Sahib MP said, expressing deep sorrow over the death of AAP worker Rajvinder Singh.