[Shahkot,Pb] 69 pc polling till 5 pm in Shahkot Assembly constituency
The Shahkot Assembly constituency, where a bypoll is underway today, witnessed 69 per cent polling till 5 pm,
There was no report of any violence during the polling,
As per Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S Karuna Raju ,The polling has been peaceful,
However, one person was caught by the security officials with a pistol at a polling booth, Raju said.
Polling to the Shahkot bypoll commenced at 7 am today. The state’s ruling Congress is hoping to maintain its winning momentum while the opposition Akali Dal is trying to retain the seat.
The Shahkot bypoll was necessitated by the demise of Akali MLA Ajit Singh Kohar in February this year.
The Congress has fielded Hardev Singh Laddi while
Akali Dal has given ticket to Ajit Singh Kohar’s son Naib Singh Kohar.
The Aam Aadmi Party has nominated Rattan Singh Kakkar Kalan for the Shahkot bypoll.
While casting their votes, both Laddi and Kohar exuded confidence that they would win.
There was enthusiasm among the voters who were coming out to exercise their franchise in the morning. However, there were reports that some polling booths witnessed deserted look as voters did not venture out in the afternoon because of hot weather conditions.
As many as 1,72,676 voters, who are eligible for voting, will decide the fate of 12 candidates. There are 236 polling booths in the constituency, of which webcasting will be held at 103 stations.
The counting of votes will take place on May 31.
Aam Aadmi Party, which faced a humiliating defeat in the 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 Dal-BJP alliance had managed to win 18 seats.
The AAP had won 20 seats while
Lok Insaf Party had bagged two seats.