24 percent voting in Punjab bypoll till noon

Nearly 24 percent voting was recorded till noon for the Khadoor Sahib assembly seat by-election in north-west Punjab on Saturday.

Voting started on Saturday morning amidst a boycott of the election by Congress and AAP, making it a one-sided contest for the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal.

There are over 1.87 lakh eligible voters in the constituency.

Voting began at 8 a.m. and will continue till 5 p.m.

Akali Dal candidate Ravinder Singh Brahmpura faces six other candidates, including five independents.

The seat fell vacant after sitting Congress legislator Ramanjit Singh Sikki resigned in October 2015 over recent incidents of sacrilege of Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, in Punjab and the state government failing to stop such incidents.

The candidate winning the Khadoor Sahib seat in the by-election will remain a legislator for only about one year as assembly elections to 117 seats in Punjab will be held in February 2017.

The main opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have opted out of the by-election.

The counting will take place on Tuesday (February 16).