Voting begins for Shahkot Assembly bypoll

Polling to the Shahkot bypoll began here today in which the Congress is hoping to maintain its winning momentum while the Akali Dal is trying to retain the seat.

The Shahkot bypoll was necessitated following the demise of Akali MLA Ajit Singh Kohar in February this year.

The ruling Congress has fielded Hardev Singh Laddi while Akali Dal has given ticket to Kohar's son Naib Singh Kohar. The Aam Aadmi Party has nominatedRattan Singh Kakkar Kalan for the Shahkot bypoll.

As many as1,72,676 voters will decide the fate of 12 candidates who are in the fray.

Voters including women could be seen standing in queues at various polling booths in the morning for voting.

The Election Commission has deployed a total of 1,022 personnel of security forces, including six companies of the Border Security Force, in Shahkot, official said.

The votingcommenced at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. Holiday had already been declared for the electors of Shahkot Assembly constituency which falls in Jalandhar district.

The counting of votes will take place on May 31.

There are total 236 polling stations in the constituency, out of which, webcasting will be held at 103 stations.

The Electronic Voting Machines andVoter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) are beingused at all the polling stations while 15 per cent additional EVMs and VVPAT have been kept as reserve if some malfunctioning is developed during polling, official said.

With the Congress eyeing to maintain the winning momentum on the development agenda, opposition Akali Dal is striving to retain its pocket borough from where late Ajit Singh Kohar had remained five-time MLA.

Main opposition Aam Aadmi Party, which faced humiliating defeat during Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll and civic polls, is desperately looking for the victory.

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