Chandigarh: Polling for Punjab Assembly Elections on Sunday ended peacefully with 71.95 % of the total 2.14 crores voters in the state turning out to exercise their franchise. He said of a total of 1,54,69,618 persons who have cast votes, there were 81,33,930 Males and 73,35,406 Females, while 282 were Transgenders/Others.
Giving the final details here on Monday, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Punjab Dr S Karuna Raju said that of a total of 117 constituencies of the state, Gidderbaha remained at the top with the highest polling percentage 84.93%, followed by Talwandi Sabo (83.70%) and Sardulgarh (83.64%), while Amritsar West (55.40%), Ludhiana South (59.04%) and Amritsar Central (59.19%) constituencies have witnessed lowest voting percentage. He said that scrutiny reports of all the 23 districts have been received at the Office of Chief Electoral Officer.
He said that over 23 tonnes of COVID waste, which includes PPE Kits, face masks, hand gloves, face shields etc, was generated from 24740 Polling Stations on polling day in the State. The waste was collected and disposed off with the help of District Nodal Officers of Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) appointed in each district in an environmentally sound manner, he added.
On Law & Order situation, Dr Raju said that some minor poll-related incidents were witnessed in the state and a total of 33 First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered on the day of polling to avert any untoward incidents. Of the total 33 FIRs, 10 were related to Minor Clashes, 16 were of violation of prohibitory orders, three were of poll-related offences, three were of other cases and one was related to Firing Incident.
Dr Raju said that after voting ended peacefully at 6 pm on Sunday all the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been moved to the respective Strong Rooms. All the 117 Strong Rooms at 66 locations were sealed and as per the ECI guidelines, three-tier security measures have been set up with the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), Armed Police and Punjab Police. He said that security forces have been keeping strict vigil round the clock at Strong Rooms. Divulging more details, he said that 65 ballot units, 60 control units and 738 VVPATs were replaced during the conduct of the poll.
The Chief Electoral Officer once again thanked the people of Punjab for coming out in large numbers to exercise their democratic right in a peaceful festive environment. He also thanked all the Polling Personnel, Security Personnel, Punjab Police Personnel, 25000 Booth Level Officers (BLO), PWD coordinators, Asha Workers, Aanganwadi workers, Mid-Day-Meal workers and Village Chowkidars for working day and night to ensure free, fair peaceful and Inclusive polls in the State.
