CHANDIGARH: The countdown has begun for the counting of votes in 116 out of 117 assembly constituencies of Punjab starting Tuesday morning. The election of Beas assembly segment will be held on March 11. Thge counting for lone Amritsar Lok Sabha seat will also be held alongwith assembly seats.

The political future of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) president and former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is at stake. The outcomes of elections likely o have far reaching consequences for both the leaders who had fought a fierce battle.

The contradictory pre-poll and exit poll surveys have created utter confusion. An exit poll conducted by intelligence wing of Punjab police has predicted 75 seats for SAD-BJP and 36 seats for Congress party.

The exit polls conducted by several other news agencies and TV channels have also indicated close competition between SAD-BJP and Congress.HT-CNN-IBN had given 50 seats to Congress and 60 to SAD-BJP. Star News has predicted 48 seats for Congrss and 60 for SAD-BJP alliance. NDTV has predicted 45 seats for Congress and 65 for the alliance.

The political observers are expecting big surprises in the election results owing to a 76 percent polling which was an unprecedented trend in the electoral history of Punjab. Even as the polling in Valtoha assembly constituency where election was held on February 24, the polling scaled up to 83.4 percent.

The high polling rate in elections has confused the politicians, political analytics and voters themselves. The polling trend remained same though out the state despite heavy rain on the Election Day.

The fate of 1053 candidates, 609 (total 612) fielded by various political parties and 443 independents in 116 constituencies would be decided by noon on Tuesday. The counting would begin at 8 AM and trends are expected by 11 AM while the final results are likely to be declared by 1 PM. The duration of counting will be short due to use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM’s).

Among the major parties the Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had fielded candidates in all the 117 constituencies; the Shiromani Akali Dal had fielded candidates on 74 seats while their alliance partner BJP had contested on 23 seats. The CPI has contested 24, CPI-M 14, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) 15.

These Vidhan Sabha elections in Punjab are considered the most expensive exercise in the Indian democracy. For the first time, the election campaign had seen politicians calling names and hitting below the belt. The terms like Chor, Daku (Thief)  or ‘King of Thieves’, ‘Robber’, “Criminal”, “Corrupt” and “Ayyash”(“pleasure hunter) were used for each other in advertisements issued under fake organisations. According to an estimate cver Rs.150 crore was spent on ad-campaign by main political aprties.

The other main candidates whose fate will be decided included Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, PPCC president Shamsher Singh Dullo, Senior ministers like Lal Singh, Avtar Henry, Partap Singh Bajwa, Raghunath Sahai Puri, Ch.Jagjit Singh, Akali leaders Captain Kanwaljit Singh, Bibi Jagir Kaur,Prem Singh Chandumajra, Sucha Singh Langah, Sucha Singh Sekhwan, Adesh Partap Singh Kairon and BJP leader Madan Mohan Mittal, Simranjit Singh Mann president SAD(Amritsar).

In Lok Sabha seat of Amritsar, the voters will make a choice between BJP leader and former crickter Navjot Singh Sidhu and Congress leader former Finance minister Surinder Singla.