Voting peaceful, 68% electoral participation recorded

Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 19

Patiala recorded a voter turnout of 68 per cent. People cast their votes in a majorly three-cornered high-stake contest between incumbent Member Parliament (MP) Dharamvira Gandhi, Congress leader Preneet Kaur and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Surjit Singh Rakhra in Patiala. In 2014, 69.87 voter turn out was witnessed in the district.

The four key candidates, including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Neena Mittal cast their votes with their families. The polling process in all 9 blocks remained peaceful without any reports of incidents of violence. District electoral officer Kumar Amit said, “We have not received any complaint of EVM malfunction or violation of election code of conduct. The polling process was completed peacefully.”

Samana records highest voter turnout

Of the nine blocks in Patiala constituency, Samana recorded the highest voter turnout at 67.70 per cent, closely followed by Nabha at 66.90 per cent. Officials said low voter turnout was recorded in Patiala (rural) at 57.60 and Patiala (urban) at 57.90. Interestingly, according to political pundits, vote from Patiala urban block majorly goes out in the favour of the royal family.

The electoral turnout in Rajpura remained at 65.40 per cent and in Dera Bassi, at 65.10. Ghanaur recorded 66.80 per cent voter turnout, while Sanaur witnessed it at 65.10 percent.

Hour-wise voter turnout

As per the records of district electoral officers, the whole the constituency witnessed merely 14.64 per cent of total votes cast till 10 in the morning. The very percentage climbed to 27.97 in two hours in the afternoon and to 54.33 per cent by 3 pm.

Cast vote for the right candidate: Residents 

Amandeep Singh, a voter who turned up to cast his vote at the polling booth at Government College for girls said he had cast his vote for a candidate who had initiated development in Patiala. 

Another voter Vicky added, “I have cast my vote for the candidate who has been accessible and listened to the problems of the people.” Interestingly, while a rush of people could be seen at booths of SAD-BJP and Congress, the booths of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) remained largely empty. A minimal number of booths were setup by workers of Nawan Punjab Party candidate Dharamvira Gandhi.

CM’s arrival causes chaos

While other candidates cast their votes diligently by waiting in queues, the security persons of the CM cordoned off the area for other voters. A chaos was witnessed outside the polling booth of Government College for Girls due to roadblock caused by the cavalcade of the Chief Minister. The security persons, including Superintendent of Police (SP) (city) also pushed the media persons around at the CM’s arrival.

Candidatespeak

Nawan Punjab Party candidate Dr Dharamvira Gandhi who was the first one among the key candidates to cast his vote reached the polling booth along with his wife and son at 7:30 am. Dr Gandhi said, “We are expecting people to vote in large numbers. We are getting a good response and are hopeful of another win in these elections.” He termed the registration of FIR against for holding a protest on Friday night as ‘murder of democracy’. He said, “Instead of cancelling the candidature of Congress candidate Preneet Kaur, the officials have registered a case against me for bringing the matter to light. It is a murder of democracy.”

SAD candidate Surjit Singh Rakhra cast his vote in his native Rakhra village in Samana block in the afternoon. He said, “We will surely register a win from the constituency this time. The Congress supporters took all the measures by distributing liquor but the people will out rightly reject their candidate.”

Preneet Kaur, Congress candidate accompanied by her husband and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and other family members said, “People have cast their vote in favour of development and a better future for Patiala. We are confident of winning by a huge margin of at least one lakh votes.”

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Neena Mittal after casting her vote in Rajpura said she would file a complaint regarding the distribution of liquor in the constituency, before the elections. “This election is all about the future generation. Liquor was distributed in various blocks by the supporters of ruling Congress party a night before polling. We will file a complaint to the Election Commission.”

Ghanaur records highest voter turnout

Of the nine blocks in Patiala constituency, Ghanaur recorded the highest voter turnout at 72 percent, closely followed by Samana at 71.44 percent as per data last received. Officials said lowest voter turnout in the whole constituency was recorded in Patiala Rural at 60.20. Patiala Urban registered the voter turnout at 61.90, in Rajpura it remained at 70.20 per cent and in Dera Bassi at 69.02. Nabha recorded 69 percent voter turnout while Sanaur witnessed it at 68.50 per cent.