The Impressive TimesChandigarh, June 1 , 2024 : Voting for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 began at 7 am on Saturday amid tight security for all 13 parliamentary seats in Punjab and the only in union territory of Chandigarh and will continue till 6 pm. Till 9 am, the EC record showed an estimated 11.54 percent of Chandigarh voters and 9.64 percent of 2.14 crore of Punjab voters cast their vote, with the target being to achieve over 70 percent polling. A total of 328 candidates, including 26 women, are trying their luck in the electoral fray in Punjab. 19 candidates, including two women, are in the fray in Chandigarh. A voter queue information system has been introduced to help voters check the length of queues at their polling stations. In a notable change, allies in the INDIA bloc, Congress, and AAP will contest the elections separately. Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have also decided to contest the elections independently for the first time since 1996. Divided into thirteen constituencies, Punjab represents a diverse mix of urban and rural areas. The major constituencies of Punjab are Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Khadoor Sahib, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Anandpur Sahib, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Bathinda, Sangrur, and Patiala, which are known for their significant political activity and voter engagement. All necessary security arrangements have been made for the elections in the state, and a total of 81,079 personnel, including the Central Armed Police Forces, Punjab Police, and Home Guard jawans from Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, have been effectively deployed in all districts of Punjab to ensure the free, fair, and peaceful conduct of the Lok Sabha elections 2024.Chandigarh, June 1 (UNI) Voting for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 began at 7 am on Saturday amid tight security for all 13 parliamentary seats in Punjab and the only in union territory of Chandigarh and will continue till 6 pm. Till 9 am, the EC record showed an estimated 11.54 percent of Chandigarh voters and 9.64 percent of 2.14 crore of Punjab voters cast their vote, with the target being to achieve over 70 percent polling. A total of 328 candidates, including 26 women, are trying their luck in the electoral fray in Punjab. 19 candidates, including two women, are in the fray in Chandigarh. A voter queue information system has been introduced to help voters check the length of queues at their polling stations. In a notable change, allies in the INDIA bloc, Congress, and AAP will contest the elections separately. Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have also decided to contest the elections independently for the first time since 1996. Divided into thirteen constituencies, Punjab represents a diverse mix of urban and rural areas. The major constituencies of Punjab are Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Khadoor Sahib, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Anandpur Sahib, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Bathinda, Sangrur, and Patiala, which are known for their significant political activity and voter engagement. All necessary security arrangements have been made for the elections in the state, and a total of 81,079 personnel, including the Central Armed Police Forces, Punjab Police, and Home Guard jawans from Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, have been effectively deployed in all districts of Punjab to ensure the free, fair, and peaceful conduct of the Lok Sabha elections 2024. According to the State Election Commission, 24,451 polling stations have been set up at 14,551 centres, out of which 5,000 have been identified as critical/vulnerable polling stations. 328 candidates are in the fray for 13 parliamentary constituencies in Punjab. Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said that more than 50 per cent of the total force i.e. 47,284 personnel including CAPF/SAP have been deployed at 24,451 polling stations to ensure that voters exercise their franchise in a smooth and hassle-free manner. He said all the candidates contesting for the 13 parliamentary constituencies in the state have been provided adequate security as per the laid down norms. The DGP said that 351 flying squads, 351 static surveillance teams and 348 quick response teams are also ready to respond to any reports about the smuggling of cash/liquor/drugs or any untoward incident in the state. The Union Territory of Chandigarh is set to contest for the sole Lok Sabha seat in 2024.. Former Indian cricketer and Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh said, “Today is a very important day for all of us and I appeal to everyone to come out and vote and elect a government that can work for you.” Former diplomat and BJP candidate from Amritsar constituency Taranjit Singh Sandhu casts his vote at a polling booth in the constituency. Taranjit Singh Sandhu said, ‘The world’s largest democratic exercise is taking place. People should exercise their franchise today…I appeal to voters across India to vote in maximum numbers today, especially in Amritsar. Voting in Amritsar should be for the development of Amritsar…You know the situation in Amritsar…’ As part of his pre-poll routine, Anil Joshi visited two important religious places and paid obeisance. He visited Gurdwara Shri Shaheedganj Baba Deep Singh Ji Shaheed and Shri Durgiana Mandir to pay his respects and seek blessings before participating in the Punjab Lok Sabha elections 2024. Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha casts his vote at a polling booth in Lakhnaur of Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar under Anandpur Sahib constituency. AAP MP Raghav Chadha was seen showing his inked finger after casting his vote at a polling booth in Lakhnaur of Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar under Anandpur Sahib constituency. Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on social media, “Today is the last phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Voting is being held in 57 seats in 8 states and union territories, so voters are being called upon to vote in large numbers. I hope that youth and women voters will exercise their franchise in record numbers. Let us all together make our democracy more vibrant and participatory.” Voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections started on April 19 and the seventh and final phase of voting will end at 6 pm today. The election results will come on June 4.
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