Tarn Taran assembly bypoll: 36% polling recorded till 1pm

Over 47% voter turnout was recorded by 3pm in the Tarn Taran assembly byelection in Punjab, with tight security and multiple candidates contesting.

Over 47.48% voters exercised their franchise till 3pm on Tuesday as polling is underway for the Tarn Taran assembly byelection in Punjab amid tight security.

An early voter after exercising his franchise at a polling station in Tarn Taran on Tuesday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

Congress candidate Karanbir Singh Burj and Aam Aadmi Party nominee Harmeet Singh Sandhu were among the early voters.

Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Sukwinder Kaur Randhawa, accompanied by her daughter Kanchanpreet Kaur, voted at the polling station at Kaka Kandiala village.

The BJP has fielded Harjit Singh Sandhu, the president of the party’s district unit, as its candidate for the bypoll.

Another candidate in the fray is Independent nominee Mandeep Singh, the brother of Sandeep Singh alias Sunny, an accused in the 2022 murder of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri. Sandeep Singh is also an accused in an attack on three former police officers, including two convicted in a fake encounter case in Tarn Taran, inside the Patiala jail. One of the convicted former officers, Suba Singh, succumbed to his injuries on September 17.

Mandeep Singh has the backing of Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) led by jailed Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, Giani Harpreet Singh-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Punar Surjit), Simranjit Singh Mann-led SAD (Amritsar) and some radical Sikh bodies, including the Sikh Youth Federation (Bhindranwale).

The Tarn Taran assembly seat fell vacant following the death of AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal in June.

The bypoll is seen as a litmus test for Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP leaders, who aggressively campaigned to retain this seat.

The stakes are high for the Congress, which has fielded its Tarn Taran district unit chief Burj for the bypoll. An agriculturalist and real-estate businessman, Burj is contesting elections for the first time.

The AAP has fielded Sandhu, a three-time MLA from Tarn Taran, who joined the ruling party in July this year. He was elected to the assembly from Tarn Taran as an Independent in 2002 and in 2007 and 2012 on a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ticket. He unsuccessfully contested elections from the seat in 2017 and 2022.

The election is equally crucial for SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who, along with his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal, aggressively campaigned for party candidate Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa, a retired government school principal and the wife of a ‘Dharmi Fauji’. Sikh soldiers who deserted the army following Operation Bluestar in 1984 are called ‘Dharmi Fauji’.

In the 117-member Punjab assembly, the AAP has 93 MLAs, Congress 16, SAD three, BJP two and the Bahujan Samaj Party one. One seat is held by an Independent.

The number of eligible voters is 1,92,838 -- 1,00,933 male, 91,897 female, and eight third-gender -- in the constituency.

A total of 222 polling stations have been set up at 114 locations, of which 60 are urban and 162 are rural, including four ‘model’ and three ‘pink’ polling booths, officials said.

Officials said 12 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed in the assembly constituency and it is one of the largest deployment of CAPF ever by the Election Commission in any bye election.

Polling began at 7am and it will continue till 6pm amid tight security.