Punjab by-polls: Counting of votes to 4 Assembly seats on Saturday
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, November 22, 2024: The vote counting for the by-elections to four assembly seats in Punjab will take place on Saturday.The voting on the four Assembly seats - Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala took place on November 20.
By-polls were necessitated after MLAs representing them were elected to the Lok Sabha. Of the four Assembly segments, Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak and Chabbewal were earlier held by the Congress, and the Barnala seat by the AAP.
The polls are seen as a litmus test for Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, whose government completed two-and-a-half years in office.
A lot is at stake for Congress MPs Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Sukhjinder Randhawa, whose wives contested the by-polls from Gidderbaha and Dera Baba Nanak seats, respectively.
Among the prominent candidates in the fray are former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Kewal Singh Dhillon, Sohan Singh Thandal, and Ravikaran Singh Kahlon from the BJP; Amrita Warring and Jatinder Kaur representing the Congress; as well as Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon and Ishank Kumar Chabbewal from the AAP.