CHANDIGARH: The State Election Commission on Friday announced the schedule for the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections in Punjab, which will be held on December 14, 2025. The announcement follows the notification issued under Section 209 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994. With the declaration of dates, the Model Code of Conduct has come into immediate effect across the state.
State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhuri said that the process of filing nominations will begin on December 1 and continue until December 4, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the offices of designated Returning Officers. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be carried out on December 5, while candidates can withdraw their nominations until 3 p.m. on December 6. All nomination forms must include the prescribed affidavit, and candidates backed by political parties must submit the party’s authorization letter.
Polling will take place on December 14 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. using ballot papers. Counting of votes is scheduled for December 17 at designated counting centres. The elections will cover 357 zones of 23 Zila Parishads and 2,863 zones of 154 Panchayat Samitis, with one member to be elected per zone.
A total of 1,36,04,650 voters are eligible to vote, including 71,64,972 men, 64,39,497 women, and 181 others. To facilitate polling, 19,181 booths have been set up across rural areas. The Commission has capped election expenditure at Rs 2,55,000 for Zila Parishad candidates and Rs 1,10,000 for Panchayat Samiti candidates.
