7.94 L voters to seal fate of 40 in Mohali district

Sanjay Bumbroo

Mohali, February 19

A total of 7.94 lakh voters in the three Assembly segments of Mohali district, Kharar, Mohali and Dera Bassi, would exercise their franchise tomorrow. There are 40 candidates in the fray in these three constituencies.

In Mohali, a total of 2.38 lakh voters, including 1.24 lakh women, 1.14 lakh men and 10 third gender persons, would be exercising their franchise, while in Kharar, a total of 1.39 lakh women, 1.26 lakh men and seven third gender voters would cast their vote. The Dera Bassi constituency has a maximum number of 2.87 lakh voters, including 1.50 lakh women, 1.36 lakh men and 26 third gender voters.

The results will be declared on March 10.

There are 907 polling booths in the three constituencies, of which 230 are sensitive. According to the officials, a maximum of 92 sensitive polling stations are in the Dera Bassi constituency, followed by 75 in Kharar and 63 in Mohali. Each of these constituencies has a critical polling station as well. In the past elections of 2017, the number of vulnerable polling stations was 136, with a maximum of 50 from Dera Bassi. The district had only one critical polling station in the elections.

This time, the three constituencies would be witnessing a five-cornered contest as the BJP with its alliance partners and the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM) have jumped into the poll battle. Former health minister and local Congress MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu is contesting the elections for the fourth time while the owner of Janta Land Promoters Limited and richest candidate in Punjab with assets worth Rs250 crore, Kulwant Singh, is contesting on AAP ticket from Mohali. BJP’s Sanjeev Vashisht, SAD’s Parvinder Singh Sohana and SSM candidate Ravneet Singh Brar are trying their luck for the first time.

In Dera Bassi, Deepinder Singh Dhillon is the Congress candidate. He had lost the previous election by a margin of about 1,400 votes. Two-time SAD MLA NK Sharma is once again contesting from Dera Bassi.

BJP candidate from Dera Bassi Sanjiv Khanna is into the real estate business in the constituency. In the Kharar Assembly segment, too, the Congress, the Punjab Lok Congress, AAP, the SSM and the SAD, who has fielded Ranjit Singh Gill, a realtor, are in the fray.

In the 2017 elections, the Kharar constituency witnessed 72.93 per cent voting, followed by Dera Bassi with 76.06 per cent and Mohali with 66.39 per cent voting.

Meanwhile, District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Isha Kalia said for the 907 polling booths in the three Assembly constituencies in Mohali district, poll parties had been dispatched with election materials. She said for 316 polling booths in the Kharar segment, poll parties were dispatched from Polytechnic College, Khunimajra; for 271 polling booths in Mohali Assembly segment, teams were sent from Sports Complex, Sector 78; and for 320 booths in the Dera Bassi segment, poll parties were dispatched from Government College, Dera Bassi.

Isha Kalia said after the completion of polling, these EVMs and VVPAT machines would be delivered under strict security arrangements through vehicles fitted with GPS.