Chandigarh, May 8
Campaigning for the high-stakes Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, which will witness a four-cornered electoral contest, came to an end Monday evening.
Major political parties pulled out all stops on the last day of campaigning to woo voters in the constituency, which is a Dalit stronghold.
Leaders of major parties, including the AAP, the Congress, the SAD and the BJP, were reaching out to voters ahead of the May 10 bypoll as campaigning ended at 6 pm.
The Jalandhar Lok Sabha (reserved) seat fell vacant following the death of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary. He suffered a cardiac arrest during the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jalandhar’s Phillaur in January this year.
There are a total 16,21,800 voters, comprising 8,44,904 males and 7,76,855 females and 41 transgender, in the constituency.
There are a total 19 candidates, including four women, in the fray.
Polling will take place from 8 am to 6 pm on May 10, while the counting of votes will be held on May 13.
Deputy Commissioner-cum-Returning Officer Jaspreet Singh has said all requisite arrangements were in place to ensure a free, fair and peaceful election.
The Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll is seen as a litmus test for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, which will be eyeing to wrest the seat from the Congress after it lost the Sangrur Parliamentary by-election last year.
For the Congress also, the prestige is at stake and would like to retain the seat. The Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat is considered to be the traditional stronghold of the Congress and the party has remained undefeated from it since 1999.
Stakes are also high for the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal, which faced humiliating defeats during the 2022 assembly polls. They will also like to register victory from this seat of Punjab’s Doaba region.
Punjab has 31.9 per cent scheduled caste (SC) population, the highest among all states. Most of the SC population is concentrated in the Doaba region.
The AAP has fielded former MLA Sushil Rinku, who quit the Congress and joined the ruling party in Punjab.
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