Chandigarh, September 15- The Punjab government now seems to be in the mood to hold panchayat elections in October. It has been learned that the state government will conduct the elections of panchayat institutions in two phases. In the first phase, only village sarpanches and panches are to be elected and this election is possible anytime after the middle of October. The State Election Commission has also released the list of election symbols. The Governor's seal is yet to be attached to the amendments made in the Panchayati Raj Act 1994 in the monsoon session of the Punjab Legislative Assembly.
This time, the state government has changed the reservation of the post of sarpanchs for the panchayat elections through the bill, for which now the block will be made the basis, while earlier the roster of reservation was prepared by considering the district as a unit. An amendment in the House has now paved the way for making a fresh roster. Candidates will not be able to contest elections on the election symbols of political parties. This has also been amended.
It has been learned that the Panchayat elections will be held after the results of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha elections. The Rural Development and Panchayat Department has initiated a process in this regard. The Punjab Government will conduct the elections of Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad separately. Only after the Panchayat elections, the way for the elections of Municipal Corporations etc. should be paved. Bye-elections are also to be held in four assembly constituencies in Punjab, which are yet to be announced by the Election Commission. Before the Panchayat elections, the government has started giving funds to the villages. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has released about 50 crore funds of his discretionary quota to all constituencies.