Punjab on Sunday saw a 62.07% voter turnout for the Lok Sabha poll amid sporadic incidents of clashes between Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP workers in the State.
The polling for 13 constituencies in Punjab went peacefully, where 278 candidates are in the electoral fray. Punjab in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, saw a voter turnout of 71.28%.
Firing incident
Punjab’s Chief Electoral Officer S. Karuna Raju said polling remained peaceful overall. He said an incident of firing was reported from Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda where a scuffle took place between supporters of two rival groups.
“At Sarali Kalan in Tarn Taran, a man identified as Bunty was killed with a sharp-edged weapon. This murder, however, was a fall out of personal enmity and not related to the Lok Sabha poll,” said Mr. Raju.
He said in Adampur of Jalandhar district an altercation took place between supporters of the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress.
“Three cases have been registered for posting videos or photographs while voting. The cases have been registered in Gurdaspur, Ludhiana and Rupnagar districts under various sections of the law,” Mr. Raju said.
“In the morning during mock poll, 290 ballot units, 219 control units and 508 VVPAT machines were replaced and 169 ballot units, 88 control units and 695 VVPAT were replaced during conduct of the poll,” Mr. Raju said. He also said that there was not a single case of disruption of poll and inducement of voters.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said that the voter turnout indicated the people’s commitment to upholding the democratic ethos of the country, which the BJP-led NDA was trying to destroy.