Chandigarh: Nearly 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 5 pm in the bypolls to four assembly segments in Punjab on Wednesday that largely remained peaceful, barring a minor clash between AAP and Congress supporters in Dera Baba Nanak.
Bypolls to the Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala assembly segments were necessitated after the incumbent legislators were elected to the Lok Sabha.
The polling began at 7 am ended at 6 pm, but the turnout may increase once all voting data comes in.
A voter turnout of 59.67 per cent was registered till 5 pm, officials said. The Gidderbaha seat recorded 78.10 per cent polling, Dera Baba Nanak 59.80 per cent, Barnala 52.70 per cent and Chabbewal 48.01 per cent.
At Dera Pathana village under the Dera Baba Nanak Assembly segment, AAP and Congress supporters clashed with each other and also engaged in heated arguments. A heavy police force was deployed to diffuse the tension.
Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, the husband of Congress nominee for the bypolls Jatinder Kaur, claimed that some "outsiders" thrashed a Congress worker in the village on the behest of the AAP and also alleged inaction on the part of the police.
AAP nominee Gurdeep Singh Randhawa, who also reached the spot, rejected Randhawa's allegations.
The bypolls are seen as a litmus test for Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann whose government completed two-and-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 its MPs Raja Warring and Sukhjinder Randhawa whose wives were in the fray from Gidderbaha and Dera Baba Nanak seats, respectively.
The BJP is also looking to put up a strong show in the bypolls after it drew a blank in the general elections. It had managed to double its vote share in the Lok Sabha polls in Punjab from 9.63 per cent in 2019 to 18.56 per cent in 2024.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appealed to voters to exercise their franchise in the bypolls for the "bright future" of Punjab.
Sangrur MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, the BJP's Barnala candidate Kewal Singh Dhillon, its Chabbewal nominee Sohan Singh Thandal, Congress candidate from Dera Baba Nanak Jatinder Kaur and her husband Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, and the Congress' Barnala nominee Kuldeep Singh Dhillon were among the early voters.
Speaking to reporters in Barnala, Hayer exuded confidence that people will vote for the AAP while underlining that the Punjab government carried out many development works in the Assembly segment in the past two-and-a-half years.
In Gidderbaha, Congress nominee Amrita Warring went to a gurdwara to offer prayers. She met AAP's candidate Hardeep Dhillon on her way out of the gurdwara premises. Dhillon also paid obeisance at the gurdwara.
Forty-five candidates, including three women, are in the fray for the bypolls. A total of 6.96 lakh voters, including 3.31 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise at 831 polling stations.
Among the key contestants in the fray are former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Kewal Singh Dhillon, Sohan Singh Thandal and Ravikaran Singh Kahlon of the BJP, Amrita Warring and Jatinder Kaur of the Congress, and Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon and Ishank Kumar Chabbewal of the AAP.
Amrita Warring is the wife of the Congress' Punjab unit 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 has opted to stay away from the bypolls.
The party took the decision 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' (a person guilty of religious misconduct), for the "mistakes" committed by his party and government from 2007 to 2017.
More than 6,400 police personnel and 17 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces were deployed for peaceful elections.
The AAP currently has 91 MLAs in the 117-member Punjab Assembly, while the Congress has 15. The Shiromani Akali Dal has three MLAs, BJP two, and the Bahujan Samaj Party one.