Ludhiana records 65.68% voter turnout, polling largely peaceful - Hindustan Times
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Ludhiana records 65.68% voter turnout, polling largely peaceful

ByAneesha Sareen Kumar, Ludhiana
Feb 21, 2022 01:32 AM IST

Polling remained largely peaceful, though there were reports of minor clashes at Ludhiana Central and Ludhiana East constituencies, where candidates accused rivals of trying to indulge in bogus voting.

Spread across 14 assembly constituencies, Ludhiana district recorded 65.68% voter turnout this time.

Ludhiana residents queue up to vote on Sunday. The rural segments reported a higher turnout as compared to the urban belt. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)
Ludhiana residents queue up to vote on Sunday. The rural segments reported a higher turnout as compared to the urban belt. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

Polling remained largely peaceful, though there were reports of minor clashes at Ludhiana Central and Ludhiana East constituencies, where candidates accused rivals of trying to indulge in bogus voting.

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The rural segments reported a higher turnout as compared to the urban belt.

Dakha recorded the highest polling percentage at 74.4%. It was followed by Payal and Samrala with 73% and 72.9% respectively. Both Khanna and Raikot assembly segments recorded a poll percentage of 72.3 each. Amongst the urban constituencies, Ludhiana East, at 63.8 %, recorded the highest voter turnout.

The lowest turnout was recorded in the urban constituency of Ludhiana (West) where just 53.6% voters exercised their franchise. This was followed by Ludhiana (Central) at 55.5% and Jagraon at 59.2%.

Ludhiana (South) constituency also recorded a low voter turnout of 59.4%. Atam Nagar recorded a polling percentage of 61.3 %.

Voting began early in morning with enthusiastic voters reaching the polling booths as early as 7am, an hour before polling was to begin.

Minor glitches were reported at polling stations in Haibbowal and Phoolanwal polling areas where polling remained suspended for 15 to 30 minutes till the time the snag was rectified.

With Ludhiana witnessing a multi-cornered contest this time, tents of all major parties in fray were seen outside polling booths. At some places, AAP candidates alleged that their party tents have been uprooted by the rival parties.

Till noon, the voting percentage in Ludhiana was 18.7% which rose to 58.22% by 5 pm.

BJP supporters block Shingar Cinema Road

In Ludhiana central, supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress clashed minutes before the conclusion of polling. The BJP workers, led by party’s candidate Gurdev Sharma Devi, alleged that the Congress MLA Surinder Dawar’s supporters were indulging in bogus voting. The saffron party supporters blocked traffic on Shingar Cinema Road. They refused to lift the blockade till an FIR was registered. Debi said Congress workers were also carrying weapons. Heavy police force was deployed in the area after the incident.

Minor scuffle in Ludhiana East

Minor scuffles were also reported in the East constituency, where BJP candidate Jagmohan Sharma accused the Tibba SHO of allegedly manhandling him. Sharma alleged that the Tibba SHO had allowed other candidates to enter polling booths, against which he had complained to police commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma.

Jagmohan Sharma, 67, alleged that he received the information that about 150 people of opponent parties have gathered at the polling stations and may try to poll bogus votes. He reached the spot, but the police did not allow him to enter.

He alleged that when he objected to it the SHO at police station Tibba inspector Nardev Singh manhandled him. On the other hand, inspector Singh said he was present at another polling booth. “On receiving information, I reached the spot and asked the force to barricade the area with a piece of rope so that nobody except voters can enter the polling station,” said the SHO.

In another incident in East constituency’s Rajiv Gandhi Colony, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate Ranjeet Singh Dhillon accused Congress workers of trying to lure voters to arrange bogus votes. Congress Member of Parliament Ravneet Singh Bittu accused Dhillon of beating up a voter and stealing the laptop of their worker.

Ranjeet Dhillon alleged that a person posing as BLO was sitting at the Congress booth and had at least 25-30 ID cards of voters. He said he made a complaint to the returning officer and police.

Ranveet Bittu refuted the allegations leveled by Dhillon. He said Dhillon thrashed a voter and snatched the laptop of a Congress worker.

Polling smooth in Atam Nagar

Polling went off smoothly at the Atam Nagar constituency, which had witnessed a number of violent clashes in the run up to the elections.

Paramilitary forces were deployed at all 170 polling stations in the segment to avoid any untoward incident. A major chunk of the police personnel deployed in Atam Nagar hailed from Haryana, so as to ensure that they don’t have any connections with the candidates or supporters.

During campaigning, most of the clashes in this constituency had taken place between the supporters of Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) candidate Simarjeet Bains and Congress candidate Kamaljit Singh Karwal, but on voting day, the polling agents of both parties had set up their booths right next to each other. Both sides, however, couldn’t stop from exchanging regular taunts.

Vigil was up in the Ludhiana South and Central constituencies too, which were marked as sensitive by the election commission.

Holiday for polling staff

The Election Commission of India has declared a holiday for polling staff on Monday.

(With inputs from Tarsem Deogan and Harsimran Batra)

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