Jagdev Singh Jagga, a Congress candidate from Ward number 4 in Raikot, was admitted to a private hospital in Ludhiana.
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring condemned the incident and targeted the AAP government over the law and order situation in the state.
Also Read: Simultaneous polls could save Rs 7 lakh crore: Joint parliamentary panel chief
“The brutal attack on Congress candidate Jagdev Singh Jagga in Raikot exposes the complete collapse of law & order under the Bhagwant Mann government. Gangsters and political goons are roaming freely while the government is busy with ads and reels. If election candidates are unsafe, imagine the condition of common people in Punjab,” Warring said on X.
Polling through ballot papers began at 8 am and will continue till 5 pm. The counting of votes will take place on May 29.
Elections are being held in 1,896 wards across eight municipal corporations — Mohali, Bathinda, Abohar, Barnala, Kapurthala, Moga, Batala, and Pathankot — besides 75 municipal councils and 20 Nagar Panchayats, officials said.Also Read: BJP’s Nabin holds strategy session in Karnataka ahead of civic, assembly polls
A total of 7,555 candidates are in the fray. The ruling party AAP has fielded the highest number of candidates at 1,801, followed by 1,550 from the Congress, 1,316 from the BJP, 1,251 from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and 96 from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Besides, there are 1,528 Independent candidates contesting the polls.
Voters, particularly elderly individuals and women, were seen queuing up at polling booths in the morning to avoid scorching heat during the day.
Among early voters, Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma cast his vote at a polling booth in Pathankot.
He urged voters to cast their franchise to make Pathankot a ‘developed Pathankot’ and strengthen democracy.
AAP MLA Amansher Singh Sherry Kalsi also cast his vote in Batala.
Punjab Congress chief Warring, along with his wife Amrita Warring, reached a polling station in Muktsar on a bullock cart. He said that he wanted to give a message to the Union government that ordinary citizens are “suffering” because of the frequent fuel price hike.
Punjab Cabinet ministers Aman Arora and Harjot Singh Bains urged voters to cast their votes.
Punjab Minister Aman Arora, along with his wife, cast votes at a polling booth in Sunam.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia alleged that there was no arrangement of wheelchairs for differently abled voters at polling stations. He claimed that voters who were unable to walk independently were facing inconvenience.
As many as 1,613 candidates are contesting in 396 wards of the eight municipal corporations. In 75 municipal councils, 5,142 candidates are in the fray in 1,282 wards, while 800 candidates are contesting in 218 wards of the 20 Nagar Panchayats.
There are 35,45,567 registered voters for these municipal bodies, which include 17,11,635 women and 220 others.
A total of 740 polling booths have been declared sensitive and 275 hyper-sensitive.
Around 35,000 election personnel and 32,000 police personnel have been deployed on election duty.
Officials said elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure smooth, peaceful, and transparent polling, while adequate security personnel were deployed at polling stations and sensitive locations to maintain law and order.
The Punjab government has declared a holiday in the state on May 26 to facilitate voting. The holiday will also apply to all Punjab government offices, boards, corporations, and educational institutions situated in Chandigarh.
The local body elections are being seen as crucial for all major political parties — the AAP, BJP, Congress, and SAD — as these are taking place ahead of the 2027 Punjab assembly polls.
