Lok Sabha Polls: Nomination process begins for 7th phase in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab

The number of voters will be updated till May 14.The bypolls to six assembly seats of Sujanpur, Dharamshala, Lahaul and Spiti, Barsar, Gagret and Kutlehar, necessitated following the disqualification of six rebel Congress MLAs, would be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls on June 1.The six Congress rebels had voted in favour of the BJPs Rajya Sabha poll candidate Harsh Mahajan on February 27.

The nomination process for Punjab's 13 Lok Sabha seats and Himachal Pradesh's four parliamentary constituencies as well as six assembly segments where bypolls are to be held on June 1 began on Tuesday.

The nomination process will continue till May 14, barring May 11 and 12 which are public holidays. The scrutiny of papers will take place on May 15 and the last date for the withdrawal of nominations is May 17, according to an official release.

Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sibin C said May 4 was the deadline for registering new voters in Punjab. According to the electoral roll released on May 6, the total number of voters in Punjab is 2,14,21,555 of which 1,12,67,019 are male and 1,01,53,767 female.

As many as 5,28,864 people are first-time voters, the CEO said.

The forms submitted for the registration of new voters by May 4 are to be decided by May 14 and thus the final figure of the total number of voters will be released after that date.

According to the CEO, 1,89,832 voters are aged above 85 years and comprise 88,169 men and 1,01,661 women. For the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state, a total of 24,451 polling stations will be set up with 16,517 in villages and 7,934 in cities, he said.

In Himachal Pradesh, there are 7,990 polling stations for four Lok Sabha seats of which 425 have been designated as critical. The state has 56,38,422 voters, including 28,79,200 men and 27,59,187 women. The number of voters will be updated till May 14.

The bypolls to six assembly seats of Sujanpur, Dharamshala, Lahaul and Spiti, Barsar, Gagret and Kutlehar, necessitated following the disqualification of six rebel Congress MLAs, would be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls on June 1.

The six Congress rebels had voted in favour of the BJP's Rajya Sabha poll candidate Harsh Mahajan on February 27. Two days later, they were disqualified for defying a party whip to be present in Vidhan Sabha and vote in favour of the government during the cut motions and budget.

These MLAs later joined the BJP and were given the ticket from their respective assembly seats. The Congress announced its candidates from five assembly seats while the candidate for the Dharamshala assembly segment is yet to be declared.

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