Majha: Rural voters out in large numbers

GS Paul

Amritsar, February 20

Voting passed of peacefully in Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts of the Majha region, which saw a drop in voters’ turnout at the polling stations in comparison to 2017.

Amritsar witnessed an overall turnout of 62.68 per cent, Tarn Taran 64.9 per cent, Gurdaspur 71 per cent and Pathankot 73 per cent. In 2017, the overall voter turnout in Amritsar was 71.5 per cent, Tarn Taran 74.25 per cent, Gurdaspur 74.2 per cent and Pathankot 76.14 per cent.

A total of 117 candidates are in the fray from Amritsar, 46 from Tarn Taran district, 70 from Gurdaspur and 24 from Pathankot.

In Amritsar’s 11 Assembly segments, the rural belt voters showed more enthusiasm in voting in comparison to their urban counterparts. The average voter turnout remained consistently high in six rural constituencies — Ajnala (76.1 per cent), Majitha (70.2), Rajasansi (68.8), Jandiala (66.6) and Baba Bakala (64.4) and Attari (64).

Among the five urban constituencies, keenly watched Amritsar East constituency saw lukewarm polling in the early hours, but it gathered pace to reach 63.3 per cent till reports last came in. This was followed by Amritsar North, another hot seat, where the voting percentage was 55.9. The Amritsar Central reported 55.2 per cent, Amritsar West 54.4 per cent and Amritsar South 50.2 per cent voting. The fight is chiefly between the two traditional parties — Congress and the SAD-BSP alliance. However, the undercurrent of the AAP too can also not be ignored, if the disenchantment with the traditional parties is any indication.

Surprisingly, the AAP seems to have penetrated in the rural areas of Amritsar and Tarn Taran, the core Panthic belt, making a triangular contest. In Amritsar’s Baba Bakala, Congress’ sitting MLA Santokh Singh Bhalaipur is facing threat majorly from AAP’s Dalbir Singh Tong. Similarly, a close triangular fight is being viewed at Ajnala, where AAP’s former Majha in charge Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal has made its presence felt among Congress’ sitting MLA and candidate Harpartap Singh Ajnala and SAD’s former MLA Amarpal Singh Bony.

In Jandiala, AAP’s Harbhajan Singh is challenging Congress’ working president Sukhwinder Singh Danny (sitting MLA). In Tarn Taran, barring the Tarn Taran seat, AAP candidates have caught the fancy of voters in Khadoor Sahib, Khemkaran and Patti.