70% electors seal their verdict in Punjab polls
Polling was largely peaceful, with some complaints of discrepancies in electronic voting machines and minor scuffles between supporters of various parties.
Over 69.65% eligible electors voted in Punjab, where polling for the 117-member assembly was held on Sunday, along with 59 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, which recorded a 61.6%voting.
To be sure, voter turnout figures typically see a marginal uptick when final data is released the day after polling. In the 2017 assembly elections, the polling percentage for Punjab was 77.4%, while it was 62.21% in the 59 constituencies in UP.
Polling was largely peaceful, with some complaints of discrepancies in electronic voting machines and minor scuffles between supporters of various parties.
In Punjab, over 21 million voters were eligible to exercise their franchise, with 1,304 candidates, including 93 women and two transpeople in the fray. In the 2017 assembly polls, the Congress ended the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine’s 10-year reign by winning 77 seats. The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party managed to get 20 seats, while the SAD-BJP won 18. The Lok Insaaf Party won the remaining two seats.
The SAD is contesting the polls in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) after breaking ties with the BJP in 2020 over the farm laws.
The BJP has formed an alliance with Amarinder Singh-led Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led SAD (Sanyukt).
The poll outcome of the elections will shape the political fortunes of several leaders, including former chief ministers Captain Amarinder Singh and Parkash Singh Badal, the Congress’s state unit in-charge Navjot Singh Sidhu, chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and the AAP’s chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann.
After casting his vote in Kharar constituency, CM Channi said the Congress will win a two-thirds majority in the state. “The Congress party will form the government with two-third majority in Punjab,” he told reporters, adding that there is overwhelming support for the party on the ground.
Channi, after his 111-day tenure as the CM, is contesting the polls from Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur constituencies.
Urging the people to vote in large numbers to “bring about change”, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu hit out at the families of Amarinder Singh and SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal for enabling the mafia rule in the state.
“We have lost one generation to terrorism and another to drugs. Now, people will have to vote carefully to bring about a change in Punjab,” Sidhu said. Sidhu is contesting from the Amritsar East constituency.
SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia hit back, saying that people will reject Sidhu’s politics of hate and arrogance. Majithia left his Majitha seat for his wife and is now contesting against Sidhu.
“Sidhu has challenged me. Now the people will win and the arrogance and politics of hatred of Navjot Singh Sidhu will be rejected,” he said.
Former CM Amarinder Singh, who quit the Congress just four months short of completing his five-year tenure in the post, said the grand old party will be wiped out from the state.
“I am certain of winning Patiala. I think we will win the elections... They (Congress) live in a different world and will be wiped out in Punjab,” Amarinder Singh, who has formed the Punjab Lok Congress, said after casting his vote in Patiala.
The Election Commission set up 196 pink polling stations for women in the state, and 70 stations that were managed by persons with disabilities.
AAP leader Raghav Chadha alleged that at a polling booth in Guruharsahai, a sarpanch (village head) tried to influence voters. He tweeted that some EVMs malfunctioned at Sanaour, Attari and Majitha.
In the third phase of voting in UP — the state will have seven phases, the last on March 7 — 627 candidates were in the fray with over 21 million people eligible to vote in 16 districts.
In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP won 49 of the 59 seats while the SP settled for nine. The Congress got one seat while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) drew a blank.
Among the high-profile candidates in this phase is Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who made his assembly poll debut from Karhal assembly seat. The BJP has fielded Union minister SP Singh Baghel against him. Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav is contesting from his traditional Jaswantnagar seat.
Meanwhile, Kanpur mayor Pramila Pandey was booked for taking a photo while voting inside the polling booth, a senior official said. The Election Commission has banned the use of mobile phones inside polling stations.
The results are scheduled to be announced on March 10.
(With agency inputs)