Around 36.4% of the electorate exercised their franchise in the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypolls till 5pm on Thursday.
In Barnala district, 38.03% votes were cast in Bhadaur, 36.3% in Barnala and 37% in Mehal Kalan. In Sangrur district, 32% people turned up for voting in Lehra, 40.58% in Dirba, 34% in Sunam, 33% in Dhuri, and 36% in Sangrur, while 41.56% people exercised their franchise in Malerkotla district.
Polling 41.56% votes, Malerkotla constituency saw the highest voter turnout so far, while Lehra witnessed the lowest polling at 33%.
Polling began at 8 am amid tight security, and will continue till 6pm, officials said, adding that the votes will be counted on June 26. There are 15,69,240 eligible voters – 8,30,056 men, 7,39,140 women and 44 transgenders – in the Sangrur parliamentary constituency. A total of 16 candidates, including three women, are in the fray.
The state election commission has set up nine pink booths, one for each at a constituency, to encourage participation of women voters. The polling staff at these booths entirely comprises of women.
In Barnala district, around 3.7% people cast their vote in Bahadur assembly, 4.43% in Barnala, and 5% in Mehal Kalan.
Among the first voters were AAP candidate Gurmail Singh, his wife and mother, who cast their votes at Gharachon village, while BJP candidate Kewal Singh Dhillon and his family exercised their franchise at Barnala. Punjab finance minister Harpal Cheema and Lehra MLA Barinder Kumar Goyal also cast their votes early in the morning.
{{/usCountry}}Among the first voters were AAP candidate Gurmail Singh, his wife and mother, who cast their votes at Gharachon village, while BJP candidate Kewal Singh Dhillon and his family exercised their franchise at Barnala. Punjab finance minister Harpal Cheema and Lehra MLA Barinder Kumar Goyal also cast their votes early in the morning.
{{/usCountry}}Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (sanyukt ) leaders Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Parminder Singh Dhindsa voted at their native village, Ubhawal. Shiromani Akali Dal leader Winnerjit Singh Goldy, who hadunsuccessfully contested state assembly elections from Sangrur, cast his vote at Sangrur.
The bypoll is the first test of popularity for AAP after its impressive performance in the assembly elections. The bypoll comes at a time when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is facing heat over the law-and-order issue and the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala.
Candidates fielded by the Congress, the BJP and the SAD are hoping to cause an election upset while the AAP is looking to repeat its feat of the 2022 assembly polls, in which it won all nine assembly segments under the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann campaigned extensively and also took out a roadshow with AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday urging voters to elect party candidate Gurmail Singh, the party’s Sangrur district in-charge.
Mann expressed confidence that “the revolutionary people of Sangrur will once again vote for a common man and the AAP’s Gurmail Singh will win the bypoll with a thumping majority”.
The Congress, the BJP and the SAD had hit out at the AAP dispensation during the campaigning over the “deteriorating” law and order situation in the state and also raised the killing of Punjabi singer Moosewala.
Apart from law and order, the opposition parties have slammed the AAP government over “unfulfilled promises”.
The main opposition Congress has fielded former Dhuri MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy in the bypoll while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made former Barnala MLA Kewal Dhillon its candidate, who joined the saffron party on June 4.
Kamaldeep Kaur, the sister of Balwant Singh Rajoana, a convict in former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh’s assassination case, has been fielded by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann is also in the fray. The Sangrur Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after Bhagwant Mann resigned as MP after winning Dhuri seat in the February 20 assembly polls.The CM had won the Sangrur seat in 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections.
Of the remaining 12 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, the Congress has eight seats, while BJP and SAD have two seats each.
(With PTI inputs)