Lok Sabha Elections 2024 are in their final and seventh phase, as such polling across all 13 constituencies of Punjab is going on. A total of 46.38 % voters have come out to exercise their franchise. Out of these, the major cities of Punjab, i.e. Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Patiala and Amritsar are seeing a curious voting trend.
Of the major cities, Bathinda recorded the highest voter turnout with 48.95 % followed by Patiala at 48.93%. Both of these cities are seeing a trend where the rural assembly constituencies saw a higher turnout than the urban constituencies. Also, these were likely the areas with the most turnout due to the fact that most prominent families in Punjab politics are contesting from here, i.e Harsimrat Badal in Bathinda, and Captain Amarinder Singh’s wife, Preneet Kaur in Patiala.
Amritsar is at the lower end of the voter turnout with just 41.74 % of the voters casting their vote by 3 PM. Furthermore, Ludhiana also looks weak in voter turnout with just 43.82 % of the turnout by 3 PM. Jalandhar looks slight better with a turnout of 45.66% by 3 PM. Now let’s delve into what all this means:
Voter turnout across the state has been comparatively low in the urban areas. Amritsar’s rural areas have seen a higher voter turnout than the Urban areas. This likely means that BJP’s votebank has failed to turn up. Similarly, Ludhiana has also seen a lower turnout from the urban areas. Therefore, it is likely brewing into a tight battle between Congress and AAP.
While Jalandhar is looking slightly better in terms of urban votes, it is pertinent to note that the highest turnout is from Jalandhar North and Jalandhar West. Both of these are constituencies where recent BJP turncoats Sushil Rinku and Sheetal Angural were elected MLAs. Meanwhile, Shahkot, which is a stronghold for Congress, is seeing the least amount of turnout this election so far.
Moreover, there are allegations surfacing of buying votes in Bathinda and Patiala. This is likely due to prominent political families contesting and having their image at stake.