A total of 6,13,939 voters will seal the fate of 17 candidates in the poll fray from Chandigarh’s lone lok Sabha seat on Thursday. The voting will start at 7am and end at 6pm. Sitting Congress MP Pawan Kumar Bansal, BJP’s Kirron Kher, Aam Aadmi Party’s Gul Panag and Bahujan Samaj Party’s Jannat Jahan are the main candidates in the fray.
Women comprised of 45.8 per cent voters. There are 33,484 youth voters (age 18-21), 63,627 senior citizens votes (above 60) in the city. The voters in the age of 31 to 40 years comprised 23 percent of total electors.
Around 3.50 lakh out of the total 6.13 lakh voters are in rural areas, villages and colonies which are expected to play a vital role in deciding the fate of candidates. There are 519 polling booths, including 167 sensitive polling stations.
A spokesperson of the UT Election Department said that all necessary arrangements, including checking of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), have been done for the polling at 519 polling booths. The polling personnel assigned to their areas have already left for their polling stations on Wednesday alongwith the EVMs and other material required during the polling.
He said, videography will be done in all the polling stations and web casting has been arranged in 167 sensitive polling booths.
With 17 candidates in the fray and NOTA (None Of The Above) option available in the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), Chandigarh Election Department will place two EVMs at each polling booth in the city. The Sector-26 College is the only centre in the city where EVMs will be kept before and after polling.
Model polling booths
All polling stations in the city will be model polling stations. Signages would be installed to guide voters. An array of facilities like drinking water, lavatories and medical facilities would be available at the polling stations. Also, special waiting room for senior citizens would be made available at the polling stations. Election Department is also providing pick-and-drop facility for senior citizens on the polling day.
Webcasting of sensitive booths
The process of voting at the sensitive polling stations will be webcast throughout the day. The 167 sensitive polling stations would be monitored through the web casting. The web casting facility will be provided, enabling the officials of Election Department to witness the polling process at these stations at the click of a button. e-Poll monitoring System and Queue Monitoring System
The voter turnout would be monitored and updated on the website of Chandigarh Election Department through e-Poll monitoring system. The website of EC would also give status of queues at polling stations through queue monitoring system.
Surprise gifts
In a bid to ensure good voters’ turnout on Thursday, the Chandigarh Election Department will be distributing surprise gifts to the first ten voters at the polling stations. From movie tickets to free cash vouchers, the EC has geared up to dole out gifts to the first few voters. Also, the voters can avail 30 per cent discount on food in 71 restaurants and hotels of city and 35 per cent discount in CITCO hotels on April 10 and 11 by showing indelible ink on their fingers.
lower voter turnout in the past
In Chandigarh, the highest turn out was 66.85 per cent recorded in the year 1971 here. The poll percentage in the year 2004 was 52.06 percent. In 1998 and 1999, it was only 42.36 per cent and 46.99 per cent respectively. And, breaking the record of past 20 years, the voting percentage was recorded 65.51 per cent in 2009 lok Sabha polls.