Counting of votes for Tarn Taran Assembly bypoll to be held on November 14

Counting of votes for the Tarn Taran Assembly bypoll in Punjab will be held on Friday, with the ruling AAP, Congress, BJP and the SAD eyeing victory in the contested seat.

The constituency recorded a voter turnout of 60.95 per cent in polling on Tuesday.

Officials on Thursday said security arrangements have been tightened at a counting center set up at the International College of Nursing, Piddi.

Returning Officer Gurmeet Singh said counting of votes will begin at 8 am and will be completed in 16 rounds.

The Tarn Taran Assembly seat fell vacant after the death of AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal in June. A total of 15 candidates were in the fray for the seat. This was the seventh Assembly by-election in Punjab since March 2022, with the ruling AAP winning five of the previous six.

The bypoll is being seen as a litmus test for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP leaders, who have campaigned aggressively to retain this seat. The result is also expected to indicate voter sentiment towards the AAP government’s policies and programmes in the border constituency.

AAP fielded Harmeet Singh Sandhu, a three-time MLA from Tarn Taran, who joined the party in July. Sandhu was elected as an Independent in 2002 and as a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate in 2007 and 2012. He lost the seat in 2017 and 2022.

The stakes are high for the Congress party as well, which nominated its district unit chief, Karanbir Singh Burj, an agriculturist and real estate businessman contesting his first election.

The campaign saw Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring face criticism from rivals over alleged “casteist” remarks against former Union minister Buta Singh, though he later apologised.

The BJP, seeking to make inroads in the state, fielded its Tarn Taran district president Harjit Singh Sandhu.

Senior leaders, including Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, took part in the poll campaign.

The bypoll also holds significance for SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who campaigned for party nominee Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa, a retired government school principal and wife of a “Dharmi Fauji” – a term used for Sikh soldiers who deserted the Army after Operation Blue Star in 1984.

SAD, one of Punjab’s oldest political outfits, is hoping for a strong performance after a string of electoral setbacks.

Independent candidate Mandeep Singh, brother of Sandeep Singh alias Sunny – an accused in the 2022 murder of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri – was also in the fray.

Sandeep Singh is also implicated in an attack on three former police officers, including two who were convicted in a fake encounter case in Tarn Taran, inside the Patiala jail. One of the convicted officers, Suba Singh, died from his injuries on September 17.

Mandeep Singh enjoys the backing of the Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) led by jailed Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, Giani Harpreet Singh-led SAD (Punar Surjit), Simranjit Singh Mann-led SAD (Amritsar) and several radical Sikh groups, including the Sikh Youth Federation (Bhindranwala).

Amritpal Singh won the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat earlier this year. The Tarn Taran Assembly constituency falls under this parliamentary seat.

In the 117-member Punjab Assembly, AAP has 93 MLAs, followed by Congress (16), SAD (3), BJP (2), BSP (1) and an Independent.