After the assembly elections in Punjab, now the counting of votes will take place on Thursday. Keeping in view the counting of votes, Section 144 of CrPC has been implemented in all the districts of Punjab. Along with this, the gathering of people outside the counting centers has been banned.
Punjab Chief Electoral Officer S Karuna Raju said that all necessary arrangements have been made for the counting of votes and as per the directions of the Election Commission, only two people can go to the counting center to collect certificates along with the winning candidate or his official representative. . Apart from this, taking out victory processions has also been banned.
He said that in view of the counting of votes, Section 144 has been imposed in all the districts by the District Election Officer and the gathering of people outside the counting centers has been banned. He said that from 8 am on Thursday, the counting of votes would start at 117 centers set up at 66 places. This time, a total of 1,304 candidates are in the fray, including 93 women and two transgenders.
He said that 71.95 percent polling was recorded in the state. Compared to the last three assembly elections, this time the voter turnout was the lowest. The voter turnout was 77.40 per cent in the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, 78.20 per cent in 2012 and 75.45 per cent in 2007, as against only 65.14 per cent in 2002.
Significantly, in the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, the Congress ended the ten-year rule of the SAD-BJP alliance by winning 77 of the 117 assembly seats. AAP won 20 seats, SAD-BJP alliance 18 seats and Lok Insaaf Party two seats.