By IANS,
Chandigarh : Barring a few incidents of violence, panchayat (village council) elections in Punjab Monday remained peaceful with people in rural areas turning out in large numbers to elect over 11,000 panchayats.
Eight people were injured in a clash between ruling Akali Dal and Congress workers in Rangarh and Koneke villages near Amritsar. Another clash led to injuries to party workers near Majitha town near Amritsar.
The police recovered the body of a candidate Jeet Ram from a village in Pathankot in the border district of Gurdaspur Sunday night.
Police resorted to firing in a village near the border area of Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district as two groups clashed.
In the industrial town of Goraya near Ludhiana, bricks were hurled by supporters of two candidates before police intervened.
Results of the panchayat elections are expected by Tuesday.
In Patiala district, the voting process had to be postponed in 34 villages after polling material did not reach the polling stations on time.
In several panchayats, candidates had used technology and surveys to campaign in the run-up to the panchayat elections.
“We used SMSes and collected data on computers and laptops to help our candidate campaign properly in his area,” said Gurdial Singh of a village near Patiala.