Punjab: Sarpanches were unanimously elected in two villages of Muktsar district as the nomination process for panchayat elections began on Friday. Residents of Fakkarsar village here unanimously declared Manpreet Singh as sarpanch. Similarly, residents of Dhani Guru Ke Asal unanimously declared Nirmal Singh Sandhu as sarpanch and five others as panches. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has announced a special grant of Rs 5 lakh to villages where panchayats are elected unanimously. Former sarpanch of Fakkarsar village Kaur Singh said, “Our entire village has unanimously declared Manpreet Singh as our next sarpanch. Now we will give written information to the Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO).” During the panchayat elections in 2018, 38 sarpanches and 894 panches were elected unopposed in Muktsar district. At that time there were 269 panchayats and 2,060 panches in the district.
Meanwhile, the post of sarpanch of Badal, the ancestral village of the Badal family, is reserved for an SC woman this time. Last time, former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s relative Udaiveer Singh Dhillon lost the sarpanch election to Congress-backed candidate Jabarjang Singh ‘Mukha’. The post of sarpanch of Sarainaaga, the native village of former CM Harcharan Singh Brar, is reserved for an SC candidate this time. Last time, Karanbir Singh Brar, grandson of the former CM, was unanimously elected sarpanch. Muktsar Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Surinder Singh Dhillon said, “The process of filing nominations for the 269 panchayats of the district began today. If some villages are forming their panchayat unanimously, the residents have to give us in writing.” Meanwhile, former sarpanch of Khokhar village Gurpreet Singh Khokhar said, “I was the first unanimously elected sarpanch of the state during the last panchayat election. I was declared sarpanch 21 days before the nomination filing process. As a result, our village received additional funds for development works. However, this time the number of unanimously elected sarpanches is likely to be less due to the presence of four major political parties.”
