Ludhiana West bypoll: All arrangements in place for counting of votes, says DEO

Ludhiana: District Election Officer Himanshu Jain on Saturday said all arrangements are in place for the counting of votes for the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll on June 23.

The bypoll to the Ludhiana West Assembly seat in Punjab earlier on Thursday recorded a voter turnout of 51.33 per cent.

"Counting of votes and postal ballots will commence at 7 am in the presence of election observers, candidates and their authorized representatives," he said.

The district election officer (DEO) said that robust security measures, including the deployment of paramilitary forces, have been made at all counting centers.

Continuous monitoring will be ensured through closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance, he added.

Jain said the entry to the counting centers will be strictly regulated, allowing only candidates, their representatives, media personnel and authorized individuals with valid identity cards issued by the Election Commission.

There were a total of 14 candidates in the fray.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded Sanjeev Arora (61), a Rajya Sabha member and a Ludhiana-based industrialist.

The Congress placed its bet on former minister and Punjab Congress working president Bharat Bhushan Ashu (51), who represented the seat twice between 2012 and 2017 before losing to Gurpreet Bassi Gogi by a margin of 7,512 votes in the 2022 assembly polls.

The BJP fielded Jiwan Gupta while Parupkar Singh Ghuman was the Shiromani Akali Dal's candidate.

The Ludhiana West seat fell vacant following the death of AAP MLA Gogi earlier in January.