Is Voting Underway for the Tarn Taran Assembly Seat in Punjab?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Polling began at 7 a.m. and will continue until 6 p.m.
- 1,92,838 total voters in the constituency.
- Fifteen candidates competing for the seat.
- Election Commission has suspended local SSP for interference.
- Vote counting scheduled for November 14.
Chandigarh, Nov 11 (NationPress) Voting for the Tarn Taran Assembly seat in Punjab commenced on Tuesday, with many electors arriving at polling stations even before the polls officially opened at 7 a.m. The polling will run until 6 p.m. Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C. confirmed that there are a total of 1,92,838 voters in the constituency, comprising 1,00,933 men, 91,897 women, and eight third-gender voters.
“There have been no reported delays in initiating the polling process,” stated an electoral officer to IANS. The vote counting is scheduled for November 14. This bypoll was necessitated by the passing of AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal, who had secured the seat with 52,935 votes, defeating SAD’s Harmeet Singh Sandhu.
A total of fifteen candidates are contesting, including Sukhwinder Kaur from the Shiromani Akali Dal, Harjit Singh Sandhu from the BJP, Harmeet Singh Sandhu from the AAP, and Karanbir Singh from the Congress.
According to the Chief Electoral Officer, there are 1,357 service voters, 1,657 voters aged over 85, 306 NRI voters, and 1,488 voters with disabilities. The count of young voters aged between 18 and 19 years is 3,333.
A total of 222 polling stations have been established across 114 locations, with 60 being urban and 162 rural. The Election Commission of India recently ordered the suspension of Tarn Taran SSP Ravjot Kaur Grewal for allegedly meddling in the by-election process.
This decision followed a meeting between SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal and the EC-appointed observer, during which a written complaint was presented regarding the misuse of power by the SSP to benefit the ruling AAP. The SAD accused the AAP government of leveraging the state police to sway the by-election. In their memorandum, they claimed that party affiliates and leaders from Tarn Taran had been “forcibly detained” by police ahead of the bypoll, alleging that the official machinery was being misused to target candidate Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa, her family, and SAD supporters.