17 in fray, Kalka, Panchkula vote today

As many as 4,38,245 voters of Kalka and Panchkula will decide the fate of 17 candidates on Saturday. As many as 1,820 polling staff and 2,200 security personnel have been deployed across the two Assembly segments to ensure free and fair elections.

Both sitting MLAs —Pardeep Chaudhary of the Congress in Kalka and Gian Chand Gupta of the BJP in Panchkula — are seeking a third term in the Haryana Assembly.

Shakti Rani Sharma of the BJP, Om Parkash Gujjar of AAP (in Kalka), Chander Mohan of the Congress and Prem Garg of AAP (in Panchkula) are other prominent candidates. The seven candidates in the fray in Kalka include one woman. Of 10 candidates for the Panchkula seat, two are women.

There are 2,02,052 voters, including 1,05,281 men, 96,756 women and 15 third gender persons in the Kalka Assembly constituency and 2,36,193 voters in Panchkula segment, which include 1,24,181 men, 1,12,004 women and eight third gender people.

The voting will take place from 7 am to 6 pm.

The 1,820 staff members have been deployed at 455 polling stations in 265 sites. This include 225 (95 urban and 130 rural polling stations) polling stations in the Kalka Assembly constituency and 230 (199 urban and 31 rural) in the Panchkula segment. More than 2,200 security personnel will keep a vigil on the polling activity, as the district police have formed 12 static surveillance teams (SST), six flying squads and 20 patrol teams (12 in Kalka and 8 in Panchkula). Police personnel along with paramilitary forces have been deployed at 116 key booths.

Police station in-charge concerned will take stock of situation at the polling booths in their respective areas and patrol parties will constantly coordinate with the polling booths.

Registered voters can cast their vote using 12 documents. Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Yash Garg said only those persons whose names were registered in the voter list on October 5 would be able to cast votes.

Those voters whose name is there in the voter list but do not have a voter ID card can exercise their franchise by showing 12 alternative documents — Aadhaar card, MGNREGA job card, driving licence, PAN card, passport, pension documents with photo, photo identity card issued to employees by the Central and state governments, PSUs, public limited companies; photo passbooks issued by banks, post offices; smart card issued under the National Population Register, health insurance smart card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour, official identity card issued to MPs, MLAs, MLCs and unique disability ID issued to Divyangs by the Ministry of Social Justice, Government of India.