Ludhiana West bypoll sees 51% turnout

The polling for the Ludhiana West byelection passed off peacefully, with no major untoward incident reported across the constituency. The final voter turnout stood at 51.32 per cent, meaning approximately 90,000 of the total 1.74 lakh voters exercised their franchise.

Despite the high-pitched campaign that continued until the last moment, polling day witnessed moments of camaraderie as rival candidates greeted and hugged each other, offering a heartening break from the earlier acrimony. All four leading candidates — Bharat Bhushan Ashu of the Congress, Jiwan Gupta of the BJP, Sanjeev Arora of the Aam Aadmi Party and Parupkar Singh Ghuman of the SAD — expressed satisfaction over the peaceful and incident-free polling.

The campaign had been fiercely contested, with parties leaving no stone unturned to secure victory. The outcome of this by-election holds significant importance for all political parties as they gear up for the Assembly elections scheduled in about a year and a half.

At Malwa Khalsa Senior Secondary School, a minor confrontation occurred when Ashu’s wife, Mamta Ashu, stopped several people accompanying AAP candidate Arora from entering the polling booth. In another incident the previous evening, residents of Sham Nagar intercepted a mini-truck loaded with ration, allegedly meant to influence voters. The police arrived, conducted an investigation and seized the vehicle. A case was registered early this morning against the driver, Amarjeet Singh, alias Vicky, based on a complaint filed by Ashu.

A clash also erupted in Jawaddi Kalan between AAP and SAD workers, with the latter alleging fake voting at a particular centre. SAD candidate Parupkar Singh Ghuman intervened, and Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma assured action based on merit.

Amid the intense campaigning, several heartwarming moments unfolded on the polling day. Outside one booth, BJP’s Gupta was seen touching the feet of Ashu before the two shared a hug and a brief conversation. Arora was spotted chatting jovially with Congress and BJP workers, even sharing a light-hearted joke with former Ludhiana Mayor Balkar Sandhu, a close associate of Ashu. In another instance, SAD’s Ghuman touched the feet of Ashu’s wife.

Outside most polling booths, workers from all four parties engaged in friendly banter, exchanging jokes. The candidates largely focused on highlighting their own programmes and achievements rather than attacking opponents.

Meanwhile, Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C reported a final voter turnout of 51.33 per cent. He stated that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had modernised the index card generation process, replacing manual methods with an automated system. “This upgrade, leveraging data integration, will enable faster reporting and release of index cards after counting,” he said.