Punjab records 62.80 pc voter turnout for 13 LS seats: CEO

A voter turnout of 62.80 per cent has been recorded for the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sibin C said on Sunday.

Bathinda has recorded the highest turnout of 69.36 per cent, followed by Amritsar 56.06 per cent, Anandpur Sahib 61.98 per cent, Faridkot 63.34 per cent, Fatehgarh Sahib 62.53 per cent, Ferozepur 67.02 per cent, Gurdaspur 66.67 per cent and Hoshiarpur 58.86 per cent.

The CEO said that 59.70 per cent polling was recorded in Jalandhar, 62.55 per cent in Khadoor Sahib, 60.12 per cent in Ludhiana, 63.63 per cent in Patiala and 64.63 per cent in Sangrur.

The counting of votes will take place at 117 centres at 24 locations on June 4.

Punjab is all set for a four-cornered fight among AAP, the Congress, the Akali Dal and the BJP.

As many as 328 candidates are in the fray. Prominent among them are BJP nominee and four-time MP Preneet Kaur, who is seeking re-election from the Patiala seat, and Shiromani Akali Dal's Harsimrat Kaur Badal, a three-time MP who is trying her luck from Bathinda.

In 2019, the state ruling Congress had won eight seats -- Amritsar, Faridkot, Anandpur Sahib, Jalandhar, Khadoor Sahib, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala seats -- while the Akali Dal won Bathinda and Ferozepur, and the BJP secured victory from Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur seats. AAP won from Sangrur.

Punjab had recorded a voter turnout of 65.96 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.