26 women among 328 in fray for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab

Chandigarh, May 17

Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C said on Friday that a total of 328 candidates would contest the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, compared to 253 in 2014 and 278 candidates in 2019.

The CEO said that a total of 25 candidates have withdrawn their names by the last date for withdrawal of nominations. Earlier, 466 candidates had filed 598 nominations in the state. After the scrutiny and withdrawal of papers, the total number of candidates has come down to 328, including 302 male and 26 female candidates.

Maintain poll purity, transparency: Sibin C

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• Punjab CEO Sibin C urged all political parties and candidates to follow the model code of conduct for peaceful and fair elections
• Political workers must display badges or identity cards and vehicle restrictions during the campaign and on polling day must be obeyed, he said
• He asked to maintain election purity and transparency and political parties should avoid cash transactions and refrain from carrying large amounts of cash

The Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat has the highest number of candidates, with 43 in the fray, he said.

Sibin C said that there are 26 candidates in the fray from Gurdaspur, comprising 23 men and three women. Similarly, Amritsar has 30 candidates, including 26 men and four women. Khadoor Sahib has 27 male candidates.

Out of the 43 candidates, 41 are male and two are female from Ludhiana. Fatehgarh Sahib has a total of 14 candidates, with 13 being male and one female. In Faridkot, there are 28 candidates, of whom 26 are male and two are female.

Jalandhar has 20 candidates, consisting of 17 men and three women. Hoshiarpur has 16 candidates, with 14 men and two women. Anandpur Sahib has a total of 28 candidates — 26 men and two women.

Ferozepur has 29 candidates, all male. Bathinda has 18 candidates with 15 men and three women. Sangrur has 23 candidates, including 22 men and one woman, while Patiala has 26 candidates — 23 men and three women.

As it is now clear which candidates are in the fray, Sibin C urged all political parties and candidates to follow the ECI’s model code of conduct for peaceful and fair elections. He requested avoiding unverified allegations and distortions when criticising others.

He prohibited the use of loudspeakers between 10 pm and 6 am without prior written permission and asked for compliance with local traffic regulations. Political workers must display badges or identity cards and vehicle restrictions during the campaign and on polling day must be obeyed. Complaints should be reported to election officials.

Unofficial voter identity slips should be on plain white paper without symbols or candidate names.