Punjab bypolls: Counting of votes to four assembly seats on Nov 23

Chandigarh: The counting of votes will be held on Saturday for the bypolls to Punjab's four assembly seats, which went to polls on Wednesday.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress and BJP are looking to register victories in these seats.

The bypolls to four assembly seats -- Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala -- took place on Wednesday.

The bypolls were necessitated after the incumbent legislators were elected to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.

The bypolls are seen as a litmus test for Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, whose government completed two-and-a-half-years in office.

A strong showing in the bypolls will be a big boost for Mann after his party's dismal performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in which it could win just three of the 13 parliamentary constituencies in Punjab.

The stakes are also high for the main opposition Congress. A lot is at stake for Congress MPs Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Sukhjinder Randhawa, whose wives contested the bypolls from Gidderbaha and Dera Baba Nanak seats, respectively.

The BJP was also looking to put up a strong show in the bypolls after it drew a blank in the general elections from the state.

A voter turnout of 63.91 per cent was recorded in the bypolls. The Gidderbaha segment saw the highest turnout of 81.90 per cent. The Dera Baba Nanak seat recorded 64.01 per cent polling, Barnala 56.34 per cent and Chabbewal 53.43 per cent, respectively.

Foolproof security arrangements have been put in place at the counting centres, said officials on Friday.

Counting centres have been set up at Sukhjinder Group of Institutes in Gurdaspur for Dera Baba Nanak, Rayat and Bahra Group of Institutes in Hoshiarpur for Chabbewal, Government Senior Secondary School (Boys) Bharu Road for Gidderbaha and S D College of Education for Barnala segment, they said.

Among the key contestants in the fray were former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Kewal Singh Dhillon, Sohan Singh Thandal and Ravikaran Singh Kahlon (BJP), Amrita Warring and Jatinder Kaur (Congress), and Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon and Ishank Kumar Chabbewal (AAP).

Amrita is the wife of Punjab Congress chief and Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. Jatinder Kaur is the spouse of Gurdaspur MP and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) stayed away from the bypolls. The party took the decision not to participate in the bypolls after Sukhbir Singh Badal, who has now resigned as the SAD president, failed to get any temporary relief from the Akal Takht, which declared him 'tankhaiya' (person guilty of religious misconduct), for the "mistakes" committed by his party and government from 2007 to 2017.

From the Gidderbaha seat, Congress' Amrita Warring, BJP's Manpreet Singh Badal and AAP's Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon were in the fray.

Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) also fielded Sukhraj Singh, who is the son of one of the 2015 Behbal Kalan police firing victims.

From the Barnala seat, AAP's Harinder Singh Dhaliwal, Congress' Kuldeep Singh Dhillon and BJP's Kewal Singh Dhillon were in the fray. Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) fielded Govind Singh Sandhu, who is the maternal grandson of former MP and party chief Simranjit Singh Mann, while AAP rebel Gurdeep Singh Batth contested as an independent candidate.

From the Chabbewal reserve assembly segment, AAP's Dr Ishank Kumar Chabbewal, BJP's Sohan Singh Thandal and the Congress' Ranjit Kumar had entered the fray.

From the Dera Baba Nanak seat, Congress candidate Jatinder Kaur, AAP nominee Gurdeep Singh Randhawa and BJP's Ravikaran Singh Kahlon were in the fray.

The AAP currently has 91 MLAs in the 117-member Punjab Assembly, while the Congress has 15. The Shiromani Akali Dal has three MLAs, the BJP two and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) one. One seat is held by an Independent MLA.