Punjab polls: Of 1,304 contestants, only 7 per cent are women

Punjab chief electoral officer S Karuna Raju said nine candidates are aged 25 and six are above 80 years, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, 94, contesting from Lambi being the oldest

Out of 1,304 candidates in the fray for the February 20 Punjab elections, there are only 93 women (7%) and two are transgender.

Punjab chief electoral officer S Karuna Raju said there are 2,14,99,804 registered voters in Punjab, of which 1,12,98,081 are male and 1,02,00,996 are female (ANI FILE)

Punjab chief electoral officer S Karuna Raju said Jasdev Singh, alias Jasleen Patiala, from Patiala-Rural, and Maniksha from SAS Nagar are transgender. Nine candidates are aged 25 and six are above 80 years, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, 94, contesting from Lambi being the oldest, he said.

2.15-crore electors

There are 2,14,99,804 registered voters in the state, of which 1,12,98,081 are male, 1,02,00,996 are female and 727 belong to third-gender. There will be 24,740 polling stations and all of them will be covered under webcasting on the voting day, Raju said.