Over 13 pc voting till 11 am in Punjab

An estimated 13.55 per cent polling was recorded till 11 am in 13 Lok Sabha seats in PunjabAround 10.40 per cent voting turnout was registered in lone Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat till 11 am, 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.Gurdaspur recorded a voter turnout of 13.28 per cent, followed by Amritsar (8.29), Khadoor Sahib (12.66), Jalandhar (12.11), Hoshiarpur (9.03), Anandpur Sahib (14.81), Ludhiana (11.92), Fategarh Sahib (14.98), Faridkot (14.33), Ferozepur (14.50), Bathinda (17.27), Sangrur (18.93) and Patiala recorded 13.98 per cent.Voters queued up early morning at several polling stations to exercise their franchise.There were some reports of technical glitches in EVMs at several places including Ludhiana, Samana and Moga.Punjab's Chief Electoral Officer S Karuna Raju said eight ballot units, 13 control units, and eightvoter-verified paper audit trailhave been replaced."Voting is going on peaceful and there is no report of any violence," Raju said.However, there was a report of a scuffle between Congress and Akali-BJP workers in Gurdaspur.Voters who cast their votes early morning included cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Congress candidate from Anandpur Sahib Manish Tewari, Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi, BJP national secretary Tarun Chugh, Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Congress candidate from Amritsar Gurjeet Singh Aujla.Former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal and their two daughters also exercised their franchise.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 former Union minister and wife of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, 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 Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance.In 2014, the AAP and the SAD had won four seats each, the Congress three and the BJP two.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.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, 719 and 509 booths have been categorised as critical, sensitive and hyper sensitive, respectively.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 voters in Chandigarh have the right to exercise their franchise 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 third gender category. There are 17,598 eligible first-time voters in the 18-19 age group.

Over 13 pc voting till 11 am in Punjab

More From This Section

Electric field-based dressing helps heal wound infections

LS polls: Two govt employees on poll duty die in MP

Elizabeth Olsen auditioned to play Daenerys Targaryen in 'GOT'

GST Council may consider national bench of AAAR next month; move to give certainty to taxpayers

Explore News