India, Dec. 15 -- Ludhiana

The zila parishad and block samiti elections in Ludhiana passed off largely peacefully on Sunday, with only minor incidents reported from the Dakha and Phullanwal areas. Barring these, polling remained calm across the district, though voter turnout was significantly low.

According to official figures, only 46.6 % of the electorate exercised their franchise. Of the total 12,45,275 registered voters, just 5,80,474 cast their votes. Cold weather conditions were cited by officials as one of the main reasons behind the poor turnout.

Polling was conducted from 8 am to 4 pm at 1,639 polling booths spread across the district. A total of 885 candidates were in the fray for 25 zila parishad seats and 235 block samiti s...