Punjab floods: 13,574 evacuate to safety, water flowing below danger mark
Priority is being given to carry rescue and relief work in the badly affected areas of the state.
Sonu Sood’s sister Malvika Sood Sachar, who is contesting from Punjab’s Moga seat on Congress ticket, is hopeful of winning the Assembly elections.
“I feel positive for today. A lot of people are calling up including those from foreign countries and are cheering up for my support. Many of them have assured me to vote for me today. If people think that Sonu Sood is a star, then it’s an icing on the cake for me,” Malvika said. She added, “I have worked a lot for the welfare of the people. We have done many social works. I don’t think any other candidate has done so much social work.”
On January 10 this year, Malvika Sood, sister of actor Sonu Sood, joined Congress in Punjab’s Moga.
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Over 2.14 crore voters of the state will decide the fate of 1304 candidates in the fray from 117 constituencies on Sunday. Polling will begin across 117 seats in the state at 7 AM today.
Punjab is witnessing a multi-corner contest this time with Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance, and the coalition of Bharatiya Janata Party-former chief minister Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress party as key players.
Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Dr. S Karuna Raju informed there are 2,14,99,804 voters in Punjab who are eligible to exercise their franchise on Sunday. He said that there are 1304 candidates–1209 male, 93 women, and two transgenders are in the fray in 117 constituencies. A total of 1,304 candidates– 231 are from national parties, 250 from state parties, 362 from unrecognised Parties, and 461 are Independent candidates.
He said that as many as 315 contesting candidates are with Criminal Antecedents.
Dr. Raju said that 24689 polling stations and 51 auxiliary polling stations have been established at 14684 polling station locations of which 2013 are identified as critical, while 2952 are vulnerable pockets.
In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, Congress won 77 seats in the 117-member House, whereas Shiromani Akali Dal could win only 18 seats. On the other hand, AAP emerged as the second-largest party with 20 seats.
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