1,941 file nominations for Punjab assembly polls

A record 1,941 candidates have filed their nomination papers for the 117 assembly seats in Punjab, which go to polls on February 4, a senior poll official said on Wednesday.

With Wednesday being the last day for filing of nominations, 1,040 nomination papers were filed on a single day. Till Tuesday, 901 nominations had been filed, Punjab Chief Electoral Officer V.K. Singh said here.

"Ludhiana (district) had the maximum 222 nominations filed while lowest of 37 were filed in district Fatehgarh Sahib," an election department spokesman said here.

Fifteen nominations were filed for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat by-election.

Scrutiny of the nomination papers would be done on Thursday (January 19) and last date for withdrawal of nomination will be January 21 (Saturday).

A total 196 candidates have filed nominations in Amritsar district, followed by Jalandhar (146), Patiala (148), Hoshiarpur (119), Sangrur (115), Bathinda (110) and Gurdaspur (106).

Security agencies have made recoveries worth RS 23.5 crore so far, including gold bars, weighing 160 kg, worth Rs 22 crore seized from a vehicle in Mohali town, adjoining Chandigarh, on Tuesday, Additional Director General of Police V.K. Bhawra said.

The spokesman said 2.96 lakh licensed weapons have been deposited by people with police and government authorities so far. This is nearly 79 per cent of the total licensed weapons in Punjab.

"On the direction of EC, review of security provided to individuals has been undertaken. Almost 900 security personnel have been withdrawn this week. This withdrawal is in addition to 300 security personnel recently withdrawn by security wing on its own. The total withdrawal is 1,200 personnel," the spokesman said.

--IANS

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