By IANS
Chandigarh : The opposition Congress Wednesday cried foul over the polling in the one-day election to civic bodies in Punjab’s four main cities even as incidents of violence occurred in all four cities.
The party even asked its candidates and workers to withdraw from the poll process in Patiala.
Dozens of persons were left injured in minor clashes between supporters of the ruling Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance and opposition Congress. In Amritsar, shots were fired in the air at Gumtala area during a clash. At least 12 persons were injured in this incident, followed by stone pelting from both sides.
Gunfire was also reported near polling booths in Patiala and Ludhiana.
Former chief minister Amarinder Singh led the protest on behalf of the Congress in his hometown Patiala saying that the ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance was resorting to open rigging of the election.
But the Akali-BJP combine was quick to hit back saying that Amarinder Singh had seen the writing on the wall and his act of withdrawing candidates from the poll process was an act of “cowardice”.
Akali Dal acting president Sukhbir Badal said that Amarinder Singh was running away as his party was facing defeat.
The Akali-BJP alliance seemed headed for a sweep in the election to around 250 seats in the municipal corporations of Ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar and Amritsar.
Nearly 2.5 million voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections in these four cities.
This was the first election in the state after the Akali-BJP alliance came to power in Punjab in the Feb assembly poll.
The results of the civic polls – conducted with electronic voting machines (EVMs) – are likely to be declared late Wednesday night.