Election day in Punjab 

In Punjab, Voting for all 117 Assembly seats are scheduled to take place in a single phase today 

Amid tight security, voting for 117 Assembly seats takes place in Punjab today. An average of 2.14 crore voters will decide the political fate of 1304 candidates in this high-stakes electoral battle. Among the candidates are 93 women and two transgender people. Polling began at 8 a.m. and continued till 6 p.m.  

This Assembly election is a multi-cornered contest in Punjab among the Aam Aadmi Party, SAD-BSP alliance, BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt), the Congress, and the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha, which is a political fold comprising multiple farmer bodies.  

Several alliances have been formed among parties. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has allied with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

The BJP has teamed up with the Punjab Lok Congress led by Amarinder Singh and the SAD (Sanyukt) fold led by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. On the other hand, the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM) fights the elections by pairing up with Sanyukt Sangharsh Party led by Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chaduni) leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni. 

Heavyweights contesting this election are Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, chief-ministerial candidate of the AAP Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, former Chief Ministers Amarinder Singh, Parkash Singh Badal, and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Punjab chief of the BJP Ashwani Sharma as well as former union minister Vijay Sampla. 

One hundred ninety-six pink polling stations have been allotted for women, while 70 polling stations shall be maintained by persons with disabilities (PwD). Seven hundred companies of the central armed police force have been appointed for security and the deployment of state police personnel.  

Covid-19 protocols are strictly maintained, with masks, hand sanitizers, and gloves available at the polling station premises. Arrangements have also been made for disposing of Covid-19 wastes.  

The Punjab chief electoral office reported a 49.81% voter turnout as of 3 p.m. The highest voter turnout was recorded in Malerkotla (57.07%), while the lowest was recorded in Mohali (42%). Further, Ludhiana recorded a turnout of 45.11%, Patiala 54.30%, Jalandhar 45.53%, Amritsar 44.29%, Muktsar 56.12%, Bathinda 55.48%, Mansa 56.94%, Ferozepur 55.08%.  

There was a brief exchange of pleasantries between Punjab Congress Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia.

They encountered each other at a polling station in Amritsar. The two candidates are fighting the electoral battle against each other from the constituency of Amritsar East. 

At this high-stakes election, the ruling Congress Party attempts to maintain its political command with the AAP emerging as the main combatant. On the other hand, the SAD party, teamed up this time with BSP, sees this election as an opportunity to make its political comeback. Vote counting is scheduled to take place on March 10.

Edited by: Mahi Gupta

Published by: Vishakha Verma