Punjab's civic body elections on 26 May 2025 recorded nearly 61 per cent voter turnout by 5 pm, even as widespread reports of clashes, booth capturing, voter intimidation, and alleged misuse of police machinery cast a shadow over the polling process. The elections — covering eight municipal corporations, 75 municipal councils, and 20 nagar panchayats — are widely regarded as a litmus test for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab.

Ballot counting is scheduled for 29 May. The eight municipal corporations going to the polls are in Abohar, Mohali, Moga, Bathinda, Barnala, Batala, Kapurthala, and Pathankot.

Violence and Clashes at Polling Stations

In Samana town in Patiala district, two rival factions clashed outside a polling station, leaving several people injured. Separately, voting at a booth in Nawanshahr town turned tense when Independent candidates Paramjit Singh Bakhshi and Makhan Singh Grewal engaged in heated arguments over alleged voter influence.

This is not the first time Punjab's local body elections have been marred by violence — similar incidents were reported in the 2021 municipal polls — but the scale and spread of allegations on 26 May drew unusually sharp responses from multiple Opposition parties simultaneously.

SAD's Allegations Against AAP and Police

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia alleged that in Majitha town, AAP workers, gangsters, and alleged goons — with the support of Punjab Police — indulged in booth capturing, violence, intimidation, and misconduct against women voters. He alleged that armed AAP workers and gangster elements moved openly around polling booths under police protection, while the Senior Superintendent of Police acted, in his words, 'like a worker of the ruling party instead of maintaining law and order.'

Majithia claimed that Congress candidates, Independent candidates, Opposition workers, and ordinary voters were subjected to intimidation and hooliganism. He said he personally confronted police at the site and described the situation as 'government-sponsored terror.'

The SAD also filed a criminal complaint against Gidderbaha legislator Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon and his accomplices, alleging booth capturing, assault, intimidation, and interference in the poll process at Ward Nos. 18 and 19 at D.A.V. Yaish School Polling Station in Gidderbaha town. SAD chief spokesman Arshdeep Singh Kler submitted a formal complaint to the state Election Commissioner, demanding an FIR and departmental action against police officials who allegedly failed to act.

Congress President Flags Fake Audio Clip

State Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring wrote separately to the Director General of Police and the state Election Commission, seeking registration of an FIR against those circulating what he described as a fake audio recording attributed to him. Warring said the clip had also been circulated seven years ago to malign him and was being deliberately revived during the local body elections.

His complaint came hours after the Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission issued a notice to him in connection with alleged derogatory remarks about the SC community found in the same audio clip.

Scale of the Election

The state Election Commission deployed 32,000 police personnel and 35,000 election staff to oversee the exercise. A total of 7,555 candidates are contesting, of whom 1,801 belong to the Aam Aadmi Party, 1,550 to the Indian National Congress, 1,316 to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 1,251 to the Shiromani Akali Dal, and 96 to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), with 1,528 Independents and 13 from other parties. The total electorate stands at over 35.45 lakh voters, including 18,33,712 male and 17,11,635 women voters.

With counting set for 29 May, the results will offer the clearest electoral verdict yet on AAP's governance record in Punjab since sweeping to power in 2022.