Punjab, Himachal and Chandigarh vote in final phase of Lok Sabha elections

After weeks of intense campaigning, voting will take place on Saturday in all 13 assembly seats in Punjab, Chandigarh, the only seat of the union territory, and four Lok Sabha constituencies in Himachal Pradesh.

The high-stakes battle for Punjab is a four-cornered contest between the Aam Adami Party (AAP), which came to power in the state with a landslide majority in 2022, its main rival the Indian National Congress, along with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as major parties in the fray. Independent candidates from constituencies such as Faridkot (Sarabheetjeet Singh Khalsa) and Khadur Sahib (Amritpal Singh), who swear allegiance to radical beliefs, are giving a tough fight to their opponents.

Read also: These are the Lok Sabha constituencies and states where voting will take place in the seventh phase.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made in each state and union territory to ensure smooth election conduct. In Punjab, as many as 5,000 polling stations have been identified as extremely dangerous.

“All necessary security arrangements have been made and a total of 81,079 personnel, including Central Armed Police Forces, Punjab Police and SDF personnel from Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, have been effectively deployed in all districts of Punjab to ensure free, fair and peaceful conduct of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” Punjab Commissioner of Police Gaurav Yadav said here on Friday.

He said 24,451 polling stations have been set up in 14,551 locations across the state, of which 5,000 have been identified as extremely vulnerable. 328 candidates are contesting in 13 constituencies in Punjab.

In Himachal Pradesh, the stakes are high for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won all four seats in the state assembly twice, in 2014 and 2019, as the election is likely to be a direct showdown between the ruling Congress Party in Himachal Pradesh and the BJP. By-elections for six seats in the mountain state will also be held on June 1. A few months ago, Himachal Pradesh witnessed political turmoil, with six Congress members in the state assembly rebelling. The by-elections were necessitated after a Congress member in the state assembly was disqualified in February this year for not following the party’s seating orders.

In Himachal Pradesh, 369 of the total 7,992 polling stations, including two auxiliary polling stations, have been declared critical, according to the state election office.

The paper said Kangra district has the highest number of important polling stations with 118, followed by Sirmool district with 58 and Una district with 51.

The Union Territory of Chandigarh is set to see a direct contest between the Indian National Alliance (INDIA), fielded by the Indian National Congress, and the BJP in the upcoming assembly elections. The stakes are high for the BJP, which is fighting to retain its seat, while Manish Tewari of the Indian National Congress is vigorously fighting against the incumbent candidate to reclaim the seat.