Punjab’s local body elections held yesterday saw a clear voter turnout difference between semi-rural bodies and urban corporations. The nagar panchayats registered a significantly higher voter participation than the eight municipal corporations.According to polling data released by the Punjab State Election Commission, nagar panchayats recorded the highest average turnout of 76.18 per cent, while municipal corporations lagged behind with a turnout of just 59.91 per cent. In municipal councils, the voter turnout was 65.06 per cent.Polling was held on Monday for eight municipal corporations, 75 municipal councils and 20 nagar panchayats across the state. Among the municipal corporations, Pathankot registered the highest turnout of 67.62 per cent, while Mohali recorded the lowest of 54.83 per cent, reflecting weak urban voter participation despite intense political campaigning.In the municipal council category, councils in Bathinda district topped the state with a turnout of 78.99 per cent, followed closely by Barnala district at 77.99 per cent. Mohali district again recorded the weakest performance among councils with a turnout of only 55.95 per cent. The strongest voter response came from nagar panchayat areas, which largely have a semi-rural social base. Mansa district recorded the highest turnout in this category at 84.60 per cent, while Ropar followed with 83.96 per cent. Amritsar district remained at the bottom with 53.06 per cent.Among nagar panchayats, Joga Nagar panchayat in Mansa emerged as the top performer with an impressive polling percentage of 85.33 per cent. Ward No. 4 in Joga recorded 91.97 per cent voting, while Ward No. 10 touched 90 per cent. Notably, no ward in Joga reported turnout below 81 per cent. This is the village where as many as 13 Left parties’ backed candidates have contested polls. Election officials also highlighted a striking trend from Joga, where women voters outnumbered male voters in polling in Wards 6 and 11. Analysts said urban voters, especially affluent sections, tend to show lower enthusiasm in the local body elections.Overall polling remained at 63.94 per cent, considerably lower than 73.53 per cent recorded during the 2021 polls.