Over 31 pc voting till 1 pm in Punjab

Over 31 pc voting till 1 pm in Punjab
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Chandigarh: An estimated 31.46 per cent polling was recorded till 1 pm in 13 Lok Sabha seats of Punjab, amid reports of EVM glitches and clashes between Congress and SAD-BJP workers in some parts of the state.

Around 22.30 per cent voting turnout was registered in lone Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat till 1 pm, poll officials said.

Polling for all the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab and Union Territory Chandigarh began at 7 am Sunday and it will continue till 6 pm.

In the morning, there were some reports of technical glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at several places in the state, including Ludhiana, Samana and Moga.

Punjab's Chief Electoral Officer S Karuna Raju said eight ballot units, 13 control units, and eight voter-verified paper audit trail have been replaced. "Voting is going on peaceful and there is no report of any violence," Raju said.

However, there were reports of clashes between Congress and Akali-BJP workers in Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda and Gurdaspur. At Talwandi Sabo, Akalis alleged that the ruling party workers also fired shots.

Voters queued up early morning at several polling stations to exercise their franchise.

Cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Congress candidate from Anandpur Sahib Manish Tewari, Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi and Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal came early to cast their vote.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his wife Preneet Kaur cast their vote in Patiala in the afternoon.

Earlier, former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal and their two daughters also exercised their franchise.

Over 2.07 crore voters in Punjab are eligible to exercise their franchise in the election in which 278 candidates, including 24 women, are in the fray.

Harsimrat Badal is seeking re-election from Bathinda. Union minister and BJP candidate Puri is contesting from Amritsar seat.

Actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol is making his electoral debut from Gurdaspur constituency against Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar.

AAP's Bhagwant Mann is trying his luck from Sangrur seat.

Among Congress's heavyweights, former Union minister Manish Tewari is contesting from Anandpur Sahib while Preneet Kaur is contesting Patiala seat.

On most of the 13 seats, the contest appears to be a direct fight between the Congress and the SAD-BJP alliance.

In 2014, the AAP and the SAD had won four seats each, the Congress three and the BJP two.

Out of over 2.07 crore eligible voters in Punjab, 98,29,916 are female and 560 are in the third gender category.

More than one lakh security personnel, including paramilitary force, have been deployed in the state for holding free and fair polling, officials said.

Over 3.94 lakh voters in the age group of 18-19 would exercise their franchise for the first time in Punjab.

A total of 23,213 polling stations have been set up and 249 booth have been categorised as 'critical', 719 'sensitive' and 509 as 'hyper sensitive'.

From the Chandigarh seat, BJP candidate Kirron Kher is locked in an electoral battle against former railway minister and Congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal.

More than 6.46 lakh people in Chandigarh are eligible to vote in the election in which 36 candidates, nine of them women, are in the fray.

Of total 6,46,063 voters in Chandigarh, 3,04,423 are women and 21 are in the third gender category. There are 17,598 eligible first-time voters in the age group of 18-19.