Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll results to be out tomorrow: Election officer

All necessary arrangements for the counting of votes for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll have been made and the results will be out tomorrow, Punjab Chief Electoral Officer V K Singh said today.

The bypoll, held on October 11, is seen as a barometer for the popularity of the six-month-old Congress government in the state.

The requisite arrangements and preparations were made for counting of votes of the bye-election at two counting centres, Singh said.

"The counting will start at 8 am tomorrow and the results are expected to be declared by 12 noon," he said.

The Gurdaspur parliamentary seat has nine assembly segments -- Bhoa, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Dinanagar, Qadian, Fathegarh Churian, Dera Baba Nanak, Sujanpur and Batala.

Counting centres have been set up at Sukhjindra College Gurdaspur for the six assembly constituencies and for the rest three constituencies of Pathankot district, it has been set up at the SD College in Pathankot, Singh said.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced a complete prohibition on sale and supply of liquor in Gurdaspur.

As per the EC directive, all liquor shops here would remain closed. No hotel, restaurant, liquor shop or any eating joint, even with a license, would be allowed to serve or sell liquor tomorrow.

The seat was contested by Congress's Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar, BJP's Swaran Salaria and AAP's Major General (retd) Suresh Khajuria.

It had fallen vacant following the demise of BJP MLA Vinod Khanna in April.