DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his wife, Gurpreet Kaur, cast their votes on Saturday at a polling booth in the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency, and appealed to people to vote in large numbers.

After casting the vote, CM Mann told the media, "People of Punjab are aware and they vote in large numbers. We should use our right to vote. I appeal to Punjabis to come out of their homes and vote and choose good representatives who can work for you." He said there was some issue with VVPAT (at the polling booth) and the officials replaced it. His wife Gurpreet Kaur said, "I urge the women to come out and vote in large numbers. Our participation is essential in choosing a government that will work for our benefit."

The Sangrur seat was witnessing a tough contest among the AAP's Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Congress' Sukhpal Singh Khaira, BJP's Arvind Khanna, Shiromani Akali Dal Iqbal Singh Jhundan and Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar)'s Simranjit Singh Mann.

Sitting MP Simranjit Singh Mann, who first won this parliamentary seat in 1999, banked on rural electorates. He has mainly raised the issues concerning the Sikhs and supports the idea of Khalistan.

In 2019, Bhagwant Mann was the lone AAP MP in Parliament and he defeated the then Congress candidate Kewal Singh Dhillon by more than 1.1 lakh votes. Later in 2022, the bypoll to the Sangrur seat was necessitated following the resignation of Bhagwant Mann, who won the Assembly election in February from the Dhuri constituency and became the Chief Minister.

Voting for all 13 parliamentary seats of Punjab is underway in the final phase of the general elections.
(editor@dailyworld.in)