Voting began on Wednesday morning for election to the Gurdaspur parliamentary seat in Punjab, which fell vacant after the death of actor-turned-politician Vinod Khanna in April. By 3 pm, 41% of the electorate had cast their votes, PTI reported quoting an unidentified official of the Punjab electoral office.
A clash reportedly broke out between Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress workers in Pahra village, in which five Akali Dal workers were injured, PTI said. The Akali Dal accused the Congress of threatening its workers. “Congress workers thrashed Akali workers in Pahra village today, and no First Information Report has been registered yet,” Shiromani Akali Dal spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema alleged.
Aam Aadmi Party candidate, retired Major General Suresh Khajuria, filed a complaint with the Election Commission alleging that Congress workers were trying to intimidate voters inside a polling booth in Pangoli village in Sujanpur.
The bye-election is being seen as a test for the Congress, which formed the government in Punjab after winning the Assembly elections in March. It is primarily a race between Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Swaran Singh Salaria, Congress’ Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar and the Aam Aadmi Party’s Suresh Khajuria. There are eight other candidates in the fray.
Thirty companies of paramilitary forces and more than 7,000 officers of the Punjab Police were deployed to guard polling booths and maintain law and order as an electorate of 15.22 lakh votes in the bye-election. Of the 1,781 polling stations, 457 were declared vulnerable and 83 critical, PTI reported.
Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail machines are being used at the polling booths along with Electronic Voting Machines.
The results will be declared on Sunday.
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