Punjab goes to polls peacefully
An estimated 65 to 70 per cent voters cast ballots in the Punjab
assembly polls and the Ropar (reserved) Lok Sabha byelection on
Friday, February 7, reports reaching the state election headquarters
in Chandigarh said.
The polling to constitute the 11th state assembly passed
off peacefully barring a skirmish in the Ferozepur district in
which three people were injured.
A repoll has been ordered for Saturday at one booth at Fateh Nagal
village in the Dhariwal assembly constituency in Gurdspur district
where the presiding officer was issued only 681 ballots as against
listed strength of 1,066 votes. The polling started on time but
came to a halt in the afternoon when the ballot papers were exhausted,
according to reports received from Gurdaspur.
An electorate of over 15.2 millions held the scales for 693 contenders
to 117 assembly seats. In the Ropar (reserved) parliamentary byelection
former federal minister Buta Singh (Congress) was locked in a
four-cornered contest where over 1.22 million voters were eligible.
Polling began at 7.30 am on a dull note due to chilly weather.
However, it picked up as the day advanced and became brisk by
noon when people queued up in front of polling booths in large
numbers to exercise their franchise.
The polling was more brisk in rural areas than in urban areas.
Women outnumbered men voters at several places.
It was for the first time after 1980 that all major political
parties joined the electoral fray in the state after the end of
militancy. In the February 1992 the Akalis had boycotted elections
and only 23.8 per cent of the voters had exercised their franchise.
The Congress had put up 105 candidates and had an informal understanding
with the Communist Party of India which had fielded 15 aspirants.
The Akali Dal Badal-BJP alliance contested 114 seats (Akali Dal-B
92 and BJP 22).
The Akali Dal (Mann) and the Bahujan Samaj Party alliance had
put up 98 candidates (Akali Dal Mann 31 and BSP 67). The Janata
Dal had fielded 28 candidates, Communist Party of India-Marxist
26, Shiv Sena 5, Samajwadi Janata Party 3, Samajwadi Party 2 and
Janata Party 1 and other unrecognised regional parties 50. As
many as 246 independents are also in the fray.
Notable personalities in the fray include chief minister Rajinder
Kaur Bhattal, finance minister Kewal Krishan, state Vidhan Sabha
speaker Dilbag Singh Daleke (all Congress), Akali Dal-B stalwarts
Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Captian Kanwaljit
Singh and former Vidhan Sabha speakers Surjit Singh Minhas and
Ravi Inder Singh, BJP president Balramji Dass Tandon and former
chief Madan Mohan Mittal, Akali Dal-M chief Simranjit Singh Mann,
Janata Dal leaders Roop Lal Saathi and son Vijay Kumar Saathi,
CPI leader Hardev Singh Arshi and BSP leader Satnam Singh Kainth.
The authorities had made elaborate security arrangements for the
polling in 18,097 polling booths of which 1,057 had been identified
as hypersensitive and 2,744 sensitive.
Over 100,000 Punjab police personnel and 150 companies of paramilitary
forces had been deployed to ensure smooth, fair and free polling.
International borders with Pakistan and interstate borders with
Rajasthan and Haryana had been sealed to check infiltrators and
undesirable elements.
Counting of votes will be taken up on Sunday at 7.30 am IST and
the results are expected to start trickling in by evening.
Most of the results are expected to be declared by midnight that
day.
UNI
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