Counting of votes for Punjab's Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections began on Wednesday, December 17, under tight security, officials said. Elections were held on December 14 for 347 zones of 22 Zila Parishads and 2,838 zones of 153 Panchayat Samitis. Voter turnout was 48%, with more than 9,000 candidates contesting. Vote counting started at 8 a.m. across the state. Candidates from major parties — Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and BJP — contested on party symbols. Opposition parties Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal accused ruling AAP of "blatant electoral malpractices" during polling. They also accused the Bhagwant Mann government of using state machinery to block their candidates from filing nomination papers and getting nominations rejected.