All eyes at city’s farm varsity for poll harvest

Ludhiana: Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) will be abuzz with activity on Thursday when the fate of 22 candidates who contested the parliamentary elections will be declared. The district administration has made all necessary arrangements for counting of votes at nine centres at various locations of PAU. The centres are adjoining the strongrooms.
Counting will begin at 8am and residents can also check the trends at the website of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Paramilitary forces, state forces and district police have been deputed to keep an eye on the EVMs. Poll agents of various political parties are also keeping a watch over EVMs kept in strongrooms. The supporters of Lok Insaaf Party and Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) candidate Simarjit Singh Bains are more vigilant.
Ludhiana had recorded 62.15% voting on May 19, which was lower than the previous two parliamentary elections. The low turnout has also made the candidates restless. The parties are worried about the votes polled in favour of AAP candidate HS Phoolka during the previous elections in 2014. Most of the leaders are of the opinion those votes can prove to be a gamechanger.
Even as the candidates are anxious, they are sounding confident of their victory. Prominent contestants from Ludhiana are Ravneet Bittu from the Congress, Maheshinder Singh Grewal from the SAD-BJP, Simarjit Singh Bains from the Lok Insaaf Party and Punjab Democratic Alliance and Tejpal Singh Gill from the AAP.
Check results online or on app
The residents who want to check the counting trends or election results while sitting at home or at their workplace can visit ECI website at https://results.eci.gov.in. There is also an option to get results on voter helpline app from 8am. The residents can scan the barcode of their voter card and results/trends will start displaying for their constituencies. The app is available at Google playstore and at Apple too. This is EC’s first such initiative. The residents can also bookmark their favourite candidates and watch the results. Also, a wish-list to track real-time status can be made.
Manual counting of VVPAT slips
Punjab chief election officer S Karuna Raju said, “This time, slips (votes) of five random VVPAT machines each in every assembly constituency will be checked manually. The general public will not be allowed within 100 metres of counting centres. Around 3.5 lakh counting staff have been deputed in the state, besides adequate number of security personnel.” P 3
POLL CHECK
Total candidates—22
Segments--- 9
Staff on counting duty—1,000
Total poll percentage – 62.15%
Highest polling—Dakha– 67.54%
Lowest polling--- South segment ---55.88 %
NINE COUNTING CENTRES AT PAU
1. Ludhiana East ----- Library hall of Government Senior Secondary Smart School
2. Ludhiana South---- Second floor, examination hall-cum-lecture theatre complex
3. Atam Nagar ------ Examination hall near Kisan Training Centre
4. Ludhiana Central----Gymnasium hall, ground floor
5. Ludhiana West-------Gymnasium hall, ground floor
6. Ludhiana North------Multipurpose hall, Government Senior Secondary Smart School
7. Gill ---------------Ground floor, examination hall-cum-theatre complex, opposite department of vegetable science and fruit science
8. Dakha ----------- Sukhdev Bhawan, dining hall
9. Jagraon--------- Dr DS Dev Examination Hall, College of Agriculture
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SAD-BJP candidate Maheshinder Singh Grewal
We will win with a majority. After a long gap of 10 years, SAD-BJP will claim Ludhiana. I am not at all worried about the results, as I am sure people have voted in my favour.
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PDA candidate Simarjit Singh Bains
Like I said earlier, Ludhiana will spring a surprise as voters will select an honest person who will fight against corruption. I am not at all anxious.
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AAP candidate Tejpal Singh Gill
I feel like my exam result will be out. I have contested for the first time, while my opponents are experienced. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
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Congress candidate Ravneet Bittu
I am confident of scoring a hat-trick with the LS poll win. After analyzing the voting trends, we are sure that Congress will emerge victorious