The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday said the party has initiated collection of the information of the reported large scale repression, excesses and bungling during the Zila Parishad and Blok Samiti polls from the party cadres across the state.

Giving this information in a communiqué, party spokesman Daljeet Singh Cheema said that from the beginning of poll process till its culmination on counting of ballots, the ruling party has let loose its reign of terror and repression against the workers of the SAD and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said this included unprovoked violent attacks, registration of false cases and misuse of official machinery to browbeat SAD-BJP workers.

Cheema said the party would stand like a rock to back its workers, wherever, any excesses have been committed and ensure complete justice to all and provide all legal assistance and allied required allied assistance to them at any cost.

The Akali leader said that the party had taken a serious note of the highhandedness of the ruling party and inclined to well document all excess so that the party could take a befitting course keeping in view the magnitude and intensity of brazen violation of democratic norms.

The SAD has sought details of the criminal cases registered against SAD-BJP worker along with poll related irregularities and bungling including meddling with voters’ lists, cancellation of valid votes in large numbers, denying access to rivals at the Counting Centers.

Detailing the alleged excesses at the Counting Centres, Cheema said that at places the winning candidates were physically thrown out of the Centres and illegally the defeated Congress candidates were declared elected, the seals of the ballot boxes were not in order.

Besides, reports of use of bogus votes and stamping of votes after booth capturing in league with the polling staff too have emanated from various centres, he added.

The party has also decided to engage legal expert to examine the complaints and assist in deciding the next course of action to ensure that the erring leader of the ruling party and the officials working in league with them are brought to justice which would ultimately guarantee than the ensuing panchayat elections are free and fair and not vitiated.

Cheema alleged Punjab government, the Congress and the State Election Commission worked in tandem to commit a fraud on the people which is detrimental to the democracy and the state.

The party would expose the nefarious designs of the Congress during proposed rally of the party on 7 October at Patiala, the home town of Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, the SAD leader said.