Ludhiana, Jun 19 (PTI) A voter turnout of 49.07 per cent was recorded till 5 pm for the bypoll to the Ludhiana West Assembly seat in Punjab on Thursday, with polling remaining peaceful.
Voting came to an end at 6 pm, and the turnout figures might increase once all the data pertaining to polling are received.
Officials said polling will continue until the last voter is present inside the polling station. The Ludhiana West seat fell vacant following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 23.
In the first two hours (7 am to 9 am) of polling, the voting percentage was 8.50 per cent, which went up to 21.51 per cent at 11 am, as per the Election Commission data.
The voting percentage increased to 33.42 per cent at 1 pm and to 41.04 per cent at 3 pm, the data showed.
Voters, including women and the elderly, began arriving at the polling stations in the morning, and their numbers grew as the day progressed.
A total of 1,75,469 voters were eligible to determine the fate of the 14 candidates in fray, including 85,371 women and 10 belonging to the third gender.
The bypoll is being seen as a litmus test for the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government and the ruling party’s national leadership, which aggressively campaigned to retain the seat.
The bypoll’s outcome will throw light on the popularity of the AAP regime’s policies and programmes among the urban voters of the constituency.
Stakes are also high for the Congress, the main opposition party that won the seat six times in the past. Prestige is at stake for the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) as well.
AAP candidate Sanjeev Arora exercised his franchise along with his family members in the morning, and later paid obeisance at a gurdwara, a temple and the Dargah Pir in Phillaur.
Speaking to reporters, Arora appealed to the people to come out in large numbers to cast their votes.
Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu, BJP nominee Jiwan Gupta and SAD’s Parupkar Singh Ghuman also cast their votes.
Ahead of the polling, Chief Minister Mann appealed to the voters to exercise their franchise.
“My appeal to the voters of Ludhiana West is that you must exercise your right to vote. You must fulfil your duty for the development and progress of your area. Do not consider today as a holiday, go and cast your vote,” Mann said in a post on X in Punjabi.
A total of 194 polling stations were set up with 100 per cent live webcasting, officials said.
Outside the entrance of the polling stations, designated counters were set up for the voters to deposit their mobile devices, which were managed by trained volunteers.
“In a first-of-its-kind initiative, all polling stations in Ludhiana West made arrangements for safe mobile phone deposit to enhance the voter experience,” the chief electoral officer of Punjab said in a post on X.
The polling stations were also equipped with wheelchairs and help desks to assist the voters, the officials said.
Pickup and drop facility was also provided for the senior citizens and persons with disabilities.
Keeping the hot weather conditions in mind, drinking water and ‘chabeel’ (sweetened water) were arranged for the voters at polling stations .
The voting process was monitored real-time from the integrated command and control centre at the district administrative complex. A total of 235 CCTV cameras were installed at the polling stations, the officials said.
AAP candidate Arora, a Rajya Sabha member, is a Ludhiana-based industrialist who also runs the Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust.
The Congress has placed its bet on former minister and Punjab Congress working president Ashu, who represented the seat twice between 2012 and 2022, before losing to Gogi by a margin of 7,512 votes.
BJP candidate Gupta is a member of Punjab BJP’s core committee, who earlier served as the party’s state general secretary.
SAD nominee Ghuman is a lawyer and former president of the Ludhiana Bar Association. PTI CHS VSD ARI
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.