Sushil Manav
Tribune News ServiceEllenabad, January 20
Dense fog that engulfed the area for over three hours this morning failed to dampen the voters’ spirits who came out in large numbers to register a record 90 per cent polling.
The polling was largely peaceful. The fate of the candidates will be decided on January 23 when counting takes place at Panchayat Bhawan, Sirsa.
The main contest for the seat is between Bharat Singh Beniwal of the Congress and Abhey Singh Chautala of the INLD. The bypoll
was necessitated with INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala resigning the seat. There are 13 more in the contest, including Kusum Chaudhary of the Samast Bharatiya Party.
Polling started on a subdued note in Ellenabad town in due to the early morning fog, but long queues were seen at polling booths in rural areas even in the early hours.
A large number of women, most of them in veil, turned out to exercise franchise.
In the two polling booths of Bhrutwala village, 229 votes had been polled in the first hour of polling. In contrast, only a few votes were cast at the polling booth in Government Girls High School, Ellenabad, by 8 am.
The Congress and the INLD made it a point to ensure maximum polling in their pickets of influence. Over 95 per cent voting was registered in two polling booths of Shakarmandori village, where 1,668 out of 1,744 voters exercised their right to vote.
In Hazeera village, where 92.8 per cent cast their vote, Mahabir, Satbir and Ranbir came all the way from Delhi, where they work in a factory, to cast their vote. Jai Bhagwan, another voter, came from Khiwania in Tibbi subdivision of Hanumangarh in Rajasthan. The Congress as well as the INLD nominees are confident of their victory. The SBP nominee, Kusum Chaudhary, too claims that a large number of women came out to vote for her today.
“Heavy polling means Dalits, backward classes and the downtrodden came out in large numbers. This is a positive signal for me as these sections are traditional supporters of the Congress,” claimed Beniwal.
The INLD candidate had his own calculations.
“This record polling reflects the anger of voters against the Congress government headed by Bhupinder Singh Hooda,” maintained Abhey Singh.
