62.68% polling goes peaceful in 11 seats in Amritsar

Neeraj Bagga

Amritsar, February 20

Overall 62.68 per cent polling was recorded in the 11 Assembly constituencies of the district on Sunday till the filing of the report. Barring a few altercations, voting largely went peaceful.

As per the last figures shared by the District Electoral Office, Ajnala recorded the highest turnout (69.2%) and Amritsar South the lowest (48.2%). Amritsar Central recorded 53.9%, East 59.8%, North 55.9%, West 51.5%, Attari 60.1%, Baba Bakala 64.41%, Jandiala 64.5%, Majitha 66.5%, Rajasansi 65%.

Till 11 am, the polling trend was slow, as only a few people turned up. Around 3 pm, the polling somehow picked up pace. An hour later, polling percentage turned satisfactory — Ajnala 55%, Amritsar Central 37.5%, East 47%, North 44%, South 37%, West 40%, Attari 45.8%, Baba Bakala 48.8%, Jandiala 51%, Majitha 52% and Rajasansi 52%.

Even as the Amritsar East seat was characterised a hot seat in the entire state, the enthusiasm of voters was amiss. PPCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia are in the fray from here. At the same time, AAP’s Jeevanjot Kaur is the only woman competing against the two. Till 11 am, polling was languid here (7.1%), but it improved to 38% by 3 pm, 47% by 4 pm and finally reached 59.8%.

Arch rivals — Sidhu, who is seeking re-election from the seat, and Majithia — came face to face in the constituency today unlike when they have been seen involved in heated arguments several times in the past. They exchanged glances and greeted each other.

Meanwhile, six constituencies situated in rural areas recorded more polling than the urban constituencies.

DC-cum-DEO Gurpreet Singh Khaira thanked the residents, staff on poll duty and others for successful and peaceful polling. He accepted that in the morning voting process was stopped for some time at about 40 booths due to technical glitch in the VVPATs. However, these were swiftly replaced. He extended special thanks to over 15,000 polling staff members whose combined efforts paved way for the smooth polling.