Punjab cabinet decides panchayat polls not be fought on party symbols

Chandigarh, Aug 29 (PTI) The Punjab cabinet on Thursday decided to amend rules to hold elections for sarpanch and panch without symbols of political parties, state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said.
     The move is aimed to "further strengthen" the mutual brotherhood in villages, he said.
     "Earlier, sarpanch and panch elections could be fought on political party's symbol. But the cabinet decided that now the upcoming panchayat polls will be contested without the symbol of political parties," Cheema told reporters after the meeting of state cabinet here which was was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
     "An amendment to Section 12 of the Punjab Panchayat Election Rules, 1994 has been approved by the cabinet... Now, sarpanch and panch elections in the villages will not be held on political party's symbol," he said.
     Cheema said only the symbols allotted by the Election Commission would be used by the candidates for the sarpanch and panch elections.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)