All set for Assembly polls in dist today

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, February 19

Polling for the 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections will be held in the district tomorrow.

It is for the first time in the political history that almost all 14 Assembly seats — Khanna, Samrala, Sahnewal, Ludhiana East, Ludhiana South, Atam Nagar, Ludhiana Central, Ludhiana West, Ludhiana North, Gill, Payal, Dakha, Raikot and Jagraon — in the district are poised for a multi-cornered battle. Four constituencies — Gill, Payal, Raikot and Jagraon — are reserved for the Scheduled Caste members.

The main Opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had won three seats in 2017 and is presently reduced to one after one of its MLAs quit and the other joined the ruling Congress recently, is giving a tough fight to the both traditional old players — the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance — in the February 20 Assembly polls.

Besides, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with its new allies —former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) and SAD’s breakaway faction SAD (Sanyukt), led by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, and the newly formed two farmer outfits of Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM), comprising 19 farm unions, including the one led by Balbir Singh Rajewal, and Sanyukt Sangharsh Party (SSP), formed by a Haryana farm leader Gurnam Singh Charuni — are also making their presence felt.

Though there are a total of 175 official contestants in the poll fray, the main contest, this time, is between the AAP, Congress, SAD-BSP combine, BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) conglomerate and the SSM-SSP alliance.

While both the Congress and SAD-BSP candidates are banking on their respective traditional vote bank, the AAP is getting support from the masses, especially the youth, fed up with those who had been ruling them in turns for the ages. The BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) and the SSM-SSP combine are also making inroads into the urban and rural vote bank.

Heavy turnout expected

The district administration and politicians are hopeful of heavy turnout in the wake of clear weather forecast for the next 24 hours.

An electorate of 26,93,131 — 14,35,595 male, 12,57,408 female, and 128 third gender — will decide the political fate of 175 candidates in the fray.

The district administration has completed all arrangements to start the polling across the district at 8 am, which would continue till 6 pm, District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, Varinder Kumar Sharma, told The Tribune, while supervising the distribution of material to the poll parties here this morning.

Foolproof arrangements

As many as 82 companies of the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF) and 5,000 Punjab Police personnel have been put on election duty in the district to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections.

While the CAPF have been given full control of Ludhiana South, Atam Nagar and Ludhiana Central constituencies, they will also take care of parts of Gill segment. Elsewhere, the CAPF, each team headed by senior Commandant, along with five quick reaction teams (QRTs) and state forces, each team headed by DCP, ADCP and ACP-level officers, have been deployed in each constituency.

Besides, 235 sector officers/ magistrates, accompanied by police personnel and videographers, have also been deployed for patrolling in the district.

Polling parties reach destinations

All the polling parties reached their respective polling booths in the district with electronic voting machines (EVMs) and other election material after proper checks and rechecks.

The polling parties, comprising 14,600 staffers, were dispatched in buses with election material. Besides, 7,000 civil staffers were part of the election teams and flying squads in the district.

A heavy posse of 1,000 micro observers from the Centre, 14 election observers, including five general from the IAS cadre, six expenditure from the IRS cadre and three police from the IPS cadre, 82 QRTs and 42 flying squads are on the roll as 14 Returning Officers will conduct polling.

“Strict instructions have been given that no voter or representative or polling agent of any candidate or political party will be allowed to use his or her mobile phone inside the polling station. Only presiding officers will be allowed to use their mobile phones,” Sharma said.

Vote without fear

All voters should exercise their right to franchise without any fear as we have made all arrangements to ensure the entire election process in a free, fair, peaceful and transparent manner. – Varinder Kumar Sharma, District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner

Polled-EVM strongrooms

• Khanna: AS Modern Senior Secondary School, Khanna
• Samrala: Girls common room 2, SCD Government College for Boys
• Sahnewal: Khalsa Girls Senior Secondary School, College Road, Ludhiana
• Ludhiana East: Library hall, first floor, SCD Government College for Boys, Civil Lines, Ludhiana
• Ludhiana South: KVM school, Civil Lines, Ludhiana
• Atam Nagar: Room numbers 9 and 10, new workshop building, Guru Nanak Dev Polytechnic College, Gill Road, Ludhiana
• Ludhiana Central: Auditorium, Arya College, Civil Lines, Ludhiana
• Ludhiana West: PAU gymnasium hall, ground floor
• Ludhiana North: Government Senior Secondary Smart School, PAU, Ludhiana
• Gill: GMT lab, SRS Government Polytechnic College for Girls, Rishi Nagar, Ludhiana
• Payal: Government College for Women, Ludhiana
• Dakha: Sukhdev Bhawan, PAU, Ludhiana
• Raikot: Malwa Central College of Education for Women, Ludhiana
• Jagraon: Examination hall, PAU, Ludhiana

Identity proof must

Voter card is must for the voters, who possess it, while a very few, who does not possess voter cards, must establish their identity through 11 alternate proofs, including driving licence, service identity card with photograph, bank/post office account passbook, PAN card, smart card under MGNREGA, health insurance smart card by the Labour Ministry, pension document with photograph, identity cards issued by MP/MLA and Aadhaar card. “All voters in the district have been issued election photo identity cards, which will be the first choice, but those who fail to carry them, shall possess any of the alternate proof,” the DEO-cum-DC said.

Polling timings:8 am to 6 pm

Pink polling stations

Fourteen pink polling stations, manned by only women staff and distinguished by their all-pink design, including pink walls and table covers, have been set up, one in each Assembly segment.

Polling stations for PwDs

Fourteen polling stations, exclusively for persons with disabilities (PwDs), have also been established, one in each segment, with all facilities to ensure hassle-free entry and exit of PwD voters.

Voter break-up

Khanna 1,71,622

Samrala 1,75,822

Sahnewal 2,65,097

Ludhiana East 2,17,728

Ludhiana South 1,78,167

Atam Nagar 1,70,654

Ludhiana Central 1,58,931

Ludhiana West 1,82,455

Ludhiana North 2,05,063

Gill 2,73,104

Payal 1,65,608

Dakha 1,87,760

Raikot 1,56,301

Jagraon 1,84,819

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