Punjab Municipal Corporation Elections: Voting began on Tuesday amid tight security to elect councilors of 1,896 wards and eight municipal corporations in Punjab, ahead of the assembly elections to be held in early 2027. About 35.45 lakh voters will exercise their franchise by 5 pm on Tuesday. Even before voting started at 8 am, voters started reaching polling booths across the state.

The state election officer told IANS that no information has been received from anywhere about any delay in starting the voting process. The State Election Commission has deployed around 32,000 policemen and 35,000 poll staff to ensure fair and peaceful elections.

These elections are being held in eight municipal corporations, 75 municipal councils and 20 nagar panchayats. The eight municipal corporations are in Abohar, Mohali, Moga, Bathinda, Barnala, Batala, Kapurthala and Pathankot. There are a total of 7,555 candidates in the election fray. These include 1,801 Aam Aadmi Party, 1,550 Congress, 1,316 BJP, 1251 Shiromani Akali Dal and 96 Bahujan Samaj Party candidates. At the same time, 1528 independents and 13 other candidates are also contesting the elections. The voters include 18,33,712 men, 17,11,635 women and 220 voters in the other category.

Before the municipal elections, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had rejected the PIL, in which the Election Commission’s decision to conduct elections through ballot paper instead of electronic voting machines was challenged. A division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjeev Beri had said that the decision to switch from EVM-VVPAT to ballot paper was taken through a sudden administrative order without any legal amendment, legislative approval or public discussion.

Punjab BJP President Sunil Jakhar has warned the government not to use any illegal means to win the local body elections. He said that Punjab will no longer succumb to the politics of fear and pressure of Aam Aadmi Party. He alleged that statements like closing the doors of polling stations and capturing booths by AAP leaders and MLAs show the restlessness of the government. Although Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann did not campaign, his ministers, MPs and MLAs campaigned vigorously for the party candidates.

Whatever be the outcome of the elections, the Punjab unit of BJP believes that the party is fast emerging as a strong political force in the state and is strengthening its hold in both urban and rural areas. A senior BJP leader told IANS that there has been a big change in the BJP’s position in Punjab politics between the local body elections of February 2021 and the current elections of May 2026. He said that in 2021, the party had to face opposition at many places and there was difficulty in fielding candidates in many areas. However, this time a large number of people came forward to get BJP tickets and there were no protests against BJP candidates anywhere.

BJP has fielded 1,226 candidates for the Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayat elections and 367 candidates for the eight Municipal Corporation elections. This shows the increasing organizational strength of the party in the state and its increasing acceptance among the people. BJP claims that now the party is not getting limited support only in urban areas, but its support base is continuously increasing in rural Punjab also.