Chandigarh: Counting of votes for the Block Samiti and Zilla Parishad elections is underway across Punjab on Tuesday (December 17). Results are being decided for 347 Zilla Parishad seats and 2,838 Block Samiti seats.
In Ferozepur, the Azad group led by former gangster and social worker Gurpreet Sekhon won two Zilla Parishad seats. Sekhon’s wife Mandeep Kaur Sekhon and Kuljit Kaur Sekhon emerged victorious, winning by margins of around 8,500 votes and 3,500 votes respectively.
Speaking to the media, Sekhon said people had lifted him “from the ground to the sky” and added that he would remain indebted to them. He said such a debt could not be repaid even with blood.
Sekhon’s victory is seen as significant as he was arrested during the election campaign on charges of intimidating voters. He was later released on the orders of the High Court.
Meanwhile, in Ludhiana, Shiromani Akali Dal workers blocked the Khanna–Malerkotla road alleging delays in the declaration of results. Party leaders said Akali Dal candidate Sonu Nagra was leading from the Libra zone but the Block Samiti results were not being released.
Earlier in the day, BJP, Akali Dal and Congress workers blocked the Ferozepur–Fazilka highway in Jalalabad alleging that their polling agents were being denied entry at counting centres. The blockade was lifted after police intervention and assurances from officials.
