The Punjab Panchayat elections have been postponed once again. The polls for 23 zila parishads and 154 panchayat samities, earlier scheduled by October 5, will now be held by December 5. A notification was issued by the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats.
Officials said the delay is due to ongoing flood relief and rehabilitation work in the state. This is the third time the Punjab Panchayat elections have been rescheduled. Initially, the government had planned them by May 31. Later, citing block re-organisation, the date was shifted to before October 5.
The last Punjab Panchayat elections were held in September 2018. With this latest postponement, rural governance polls are now delayed by over five years. The focus remains on completing flood recovery before conducting these local body elections.
