Multi-cornered Tarn Taran bypoll sees 23 pc polling by 11 am (Lead)

Chandigarh, Nov 11 (IANS) With Punjab-ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) eyeing to retain the seat that is witnessing a multi-cornered contest, polling for the high-stakes Tarn Taran Assembly bypoll began on Tuesday morning amid tight security arrangements.

Twenty-three per cent polling has been recorded in the first four hours, officials said. The polling will continue till 6 pm. As many as 15 candidates are in the fray, with 5 being seen as strong contenders, setting the stage for a multi-cornered fight on the Panthic seat with the influence of Sikh religio-politics being the strongest.

Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C said there are 192,838 voters in the constituency, which includes 100,933 men, 91,897 women and eight third-gender voters.

“There has been no report of any delay in starting the poll process,” an electoral officer told IANS here.

The counting of votes will be held on November 14. The bypoll was necessitated by the death of AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal, who had won the seat with 52,935 votes, defeating Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) Harmeet Singh Sandhu.

The 15 candidates in the fray include Sukhwinder Kaur of the SAD, Harjit Singh Sandhu of the BJP, Harmeet Singh Sandhu of the AAP and Karanbir Singh of the Congress.

The Chief Electoral Officer said there are 1,357 service voters, 1,657 voters aged above 85 years, 306 NRI voters, and 1,488 voters with disabilities. The number of young voters aged between 18 and 19 years stands at 3,333.

There are 222 polling stations set up at 114 polling station locations, of which 60 are urban and 162 are rural.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) last week directed the suspension of Tarn Taran Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ravjot Kaur Grewal for allegedly interfering in the bye-election process. The action comes after SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal met the EC-appointed observer and submitted a written complaint of alleged misuse of power by the SSP to help the ruling party.

The SAD alleged that the AAP government was using the state police to influence the bye-election process. In the memorandum, the SAD claimed that party workers and leaders from Tarn Taran had been “forcibly detained” by police officials ahead of the bypoll.

They alleged that the official machinery was being misused to target Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa, her family members and SAD supporters.

--IANS

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