Shahkot bypoll: Cong candidate's lead increases to more than 10,000

Congress candidate Hardev Singh Laddi was leading by more than 10,000 votes over his nearest rival, Shiromani Akali Dal nominee Naib Singh Kohar, after five rounds of counting for the Shahkot assembly constituency bypoll, officials said.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Rattan Singh Kakkar Kalan appeared to be out of the contest as he was way behind the Congress and Akali Dal candidates.

Laddi was leading by 10,586 votes over his rival Kohar after five rounds of counting were completed, said an official.

The votes would be counted over 17 rounds, an official said, adding that the result was expected to be declared by afternoon.

The Shahkot bypoll was necessitated by the death of Akali MLA Ajit Singh Kohar, Naib Singh Kohar's father, in February this year.

The counting process for the Shahkot assembly constituency bypoll began at 8 am in Jalandhar in the presence of the election observer, candidates of the political parties and their representatives today amid tight security arrangements.

The counting centre has been set up at the office of the director, Land Records, in Jalandhar.

Three-tier security arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful counting of vote, official said.

More than 300 police personnel have been deployed at the counting centre to ensure that the counting proceeds smoothly, the official said.

Over 76 per cent of 1.72 lakh voters exercised their franchise for the Shahkot Assembly bypoll on May 28 where the Congress, SAD and AAP were locked in a triangular battle.

The Shahkot assembly constituency, considered an Akali bastion, recorded 78.60 per cent polling during the 2017 Assembly polls.

The bypoll was being seen as a barometer for the popularity of the 14-month-old Congress government of Captain Amarinder Singh. The Congress says it is confident of maintaining the winning momentum by wresting the seat from Akalis.

The opposition Akali Dal, striving to retain its pocket borough from where the late Kohar was elected five times, has accused the ruling party of misusing official machinery against its political opponents.

AAP, which faced a humiliating defeat in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll and civic polls, is desperately looking for victory.

The Election Commission had used EVMs and VVPATs at the all the 236 polling stations.

The Congress had won 77 seats in the 117-member Punjab Vidhan Sabha during 2017 Assembly polls while the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance managed to win 18 seats. The AAP won 20 seats while Lok Insaf Party had bagged two seats.