Voting commences for bypolls to four Punjab Assembly segments

Polling began amid tight security at 7 am on Wednesday for bypolls to four assembly segments in Punjab.

Bypolls to the Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal and Barnala assembly segments were necessitated after the incumbent lawmakers were elected to the Lok Sabha.

Among the key contestants in the fray are former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Kewal Singh Dhillon, Sohan Singh Thandal and Ravikaran Singh Kahlon (BJP), Amrita Warring and Jatinder Kaur (Congress), and Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon and Ishank Kumar Chabbewal (AAP).

Warring is the wife of the Congress' Punjab chief and Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. Jatinder Kaur is the spouse of Gurdaspur MP and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.

The Shiromani Akali Dal has not fielded candidates for the bypolls, the results of which will be announced on November 23.