Panchayat polls: Stick to booth-level counting, says SAD

PRESENTLY, VOTES ARE COUNTED IMMEDIATELY AFTER POLLS; CHANGING COUNTING SYSTEM TO BLOCK LEVEL WILL ENCOURAGE MALPRACTICES

CHANDIGARH : The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday demanded that the practice of counting votes at the booth level must be continued during the upcoming panchayat polls in the state and asked the state election commission to call an all-party meeting to reach a consensus if it wanted any changes in the current electoral process for the panchayat elections.

In a letter to the state election commission, SAD vice-president and spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said the current government wanted to change the counting system to block level which would encourage malpractices.

He said under the current system, immediately after end of the election process, the votes were counted at the booth level. “This ensures transparency as the votes are counted fairly in the presence of contesting candidates and their supporters. These persons would now find it difficult to reach the block level to ensure the same level of participation in the election process,” Cheema said.

Alleging intimidation, violence and rigging in elections to local bodies and panchayat samiti and zila parishad elections, the SAD leader said even the rival candidates were not allowed to be present at the counting centres. “The ruling party candidates were forcibly declared winner by expelling the counting agents from the counting centres at various places. Candidates raising their voice against such malpractices were removed from the counting centre with the help of police,” he added.