02062024-CT-01.qxd 6/2/2024 1:27 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune RABAB KAHLON WINS JUNIOR GOLF TOURNAMENT MOHALI REGISTERS 55.6% VOTER TURNOUT District sees lukewarm response to Anandpur Sahib seat election by logging 55.6% turnout. P6 MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 43°C | MIN 29°C YESTERDAY MAX 44.5°C | MIN 27.2°C 103-YEAR-OLD WOMAN CASTS VOTE IN PHASE 2, MOHALI Local golfer Rabab Kahlon has won the West Bengal Ladies and Junior Girls Golf National meet. P3 FORECAST 103-year-old Joginder Kaur, one of the oldest voters in district, reaches booth with her son. P6 » » 190 PANCHKULA 242 MOHALI 264 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF MAN FALLS PREY TO ONLINE FRAUD Chandigarh: A city resident has been duped of Rs 54.50 lakh by a fraudster. Ramnik Patheja, a resident of Sector 33, reported that the fraudster made him invest money promising high returns and he ended up losing Rs 54.50 lakh. The police have registered a case at the cybercrime police station. TNS YOUTH ARRESTED FOR TRESPASS Chandigarh: A 20-year-old youth has been arrested by for trespassing on the IAF station premises. According to the police, Barna Bhattacharya, Wing Commander, Station Security Officer, 12 Wing, reported Shiv Ram Thapa, a native of Nepal, entered in the prohibited area. A case has been registered at the Sector 31 police station. TNS BOUNCERS BOOKED FOR ASSAULT Chandigarh: Bouncers of a Sector 26 club have been booked for thrashing two persons. Lokesh Kumar, a resident of Sector 18, alleged that Avinash, Parmeet and other bouncers thrashed him WHAT’S ON APNI MANDI CHANDIGARH: Sectors 34, 37 and Dadu Majra MOHALI: Dassehra Ground, Sector 62 TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE City beats the heat, logs 67.90% turnout Voters started reaching polling stations in colonies as early as 4 am, villages also saw huge crowds First-timers vote for INDIA VOTES 2024 development, jobs Amit Sharma Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 1 With a voter turnout of 67.90 per cent, the fate of 19 candidates, including main contenders BJP’s Sanjay Tandon and Congress’ Manish Tewari, was sealed today. Despite searing heat, a large number of voters turned up to elect their new representative in Parliament. Huge crowds had been witnessed in the colonies and villages, including Dhanas, Maloya, Dadu Majra, Sarganpur, Khuda ali Sher, Ram Darbar, Hallo Majra, Daria and Mauli Jagan, since morning. At a few polling stations, voters started queuing up outside as early as 4 am. In many places, the queues stretched for over 500 metres. The police had a tough time managing the early crowds, who became restless by 7 am. As the day progressed and the heat got intense, voters found it difficult to wait in queues. They had to brave the scorching sun for as long as two hours. There were reports of people fainting at several polling centres. Supporters of some political parties offered sweetened water to people who were waiting for their turn to cast vote. There were no voter crowds in urban parts of the constituency throughout the day. The lowest turnout was recorded between 3 pm and 5 pm with around 10 per cent electorate casting vote. Between 7 am and 9 am, only 11.64 per cent voters turned up. Between 1 pm and 3 pm, about 12 per cent turnout was recorded. With the weather becoming A long queue of voters at a polling booth in Hallo Majra in Chandigarh on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: NITIN MITTAL POLLING TRENDS 9 AM 11 AM 1 PM 11.64 25.03 PAST PERCENTAGE TOTAL 40.14 3 PM 5 PM cloudy in the evening, the voter turnout saw an increase. The model polling booths made voting more engaging. Residents appreciated these theme-based booths. Nearly 4,000 police personnel, including the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) staff, were on poll duty. No major untoward incident was reported in the city. UT SSP Kanwardeep Kaur 67.90% 52.61 62.80 Year 1977 1980 1984 1989 1991 1996 1998 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 confirmed that no violence was reported from any part of the city. “We ensured that the election was conducted peacefully without any interruptions,” she added. There is a tough fight between the main contenders, two-time MP Manish Tewari and first-timer Sanjay Tandon. Counting will be held on June 4 and the result will be out the same day. Percentage 66.53 63 68.10 64.84 57.31 58.41 53.23 48.34 50.91 65.50 73.69 70.54 TIGHT SECURITY AT STRONG ROOM A three-tier security is in place at the Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology (CCET), Sector 26, where a strong room for EVMs has been set up. The counting will be held at the college on June 4. The entire facility is being monitored with CCTV cameras around the clock. 4,48,007 cast vote Vinay Partap Singh, District Election Officer-cum-Returning Officer, Chandigarh, said a total of 4,48,007 voters, out of 6,59,805 eligible electorate, cast their vote. These figures are provisional, as the Election Office is expected to release the final voter turnout after reconciliation of the data submitted by the polling parties, the official added. The official said mock polling was conducted between 5.30 am and 6.30 am to ensure a smooth voting process. Voters who entered the polling booths before 6 pm were also allowed to cast vote. Voting at the polling stations in Dhanas and some other parts of the city continued till 8.45 pm. 4 VVPAT & one complete set of EVM (replaced during poll today. Chandigarh, June 1 Young voters, brimming with optimism, exercised their franchise keeping in mind development and job security. Of a total of 6,59,805 voters in the city, 17,977 firsttimers, aged between 18 and 19, wanted the elected representatives to prioritise development and employment generation. Abhishek, a 19-year-old resident of Daria village, underscored the significance of voting for the development of his area and strong leadership at the Centre. Similarly, Rahul, also from the same village, called for attention to the pressing need for infrastructure upgrade and essential amenities such as sports stadium. Kushi Rana, a law student residing in Sector 37, advocated change and hoped that the newly elected MP would take up issues faced by the local residents in Parliament. First-time voters Jessica Kharwal and her brother Abhay said they voted for a better future of the country. “Many issues, including employment for the youth, Khushi Rana TRIBUNE PHOTO: NITIN MITTAL CHANDIGARH SUNRISE MONDAY 5.21 AM » SUNDAY | 2 JUNE 2024 | CHANDIGARH AIR QUALITY INDEX SUNSET SUNDAY 7.20 PM Annu were on my mind while casting vote,” said Jessica, a resident of Sector 63. Rajinder Kumar of Bapu Dham Colony said it was a great experience. He played his role in the democracy. “I voted keeping in my mind the leader or party that is good for my country,” he added. Echoeing similar sentiments, Mahinder Pal, a resident of Sector 25, said he Continued on page 3 First-time voters wait for their turn at Dhanas. PRADEEP TEWARI Both Tandon, Tewari confident of victory Wasn’t ignored by party: Kher Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service POLSTERS GIVE TANDON EDGE Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 1 Contest between BJP candidate Sanjay Tandon and Congress’ Manish Tewari seems to be a close fight. The two parties have claimed victory with a comfortable margin. After polling ended in the city under the final and seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections, city BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra said, “We are winning with 60 per cent vote share in Chandigarh. The Congress did not have its workers at many polling booths.” City Congress president HS Lucky said, “We are fully confident that we will win this seat. Our alliance with AAP has worked for us and we have sailed through.” Focus of the parties remained on colonies where long queues of voters were witnessed. The voters of these areas account for 46 per cent of the electorate. The Aam Aadmi Party, which is fighting the city election in alliance with the Congress, has most of its councillors from colonies. This vote base could shift to the INDIA bloc candidate. The BJP believes the voting pattern for the MC and parliamentary elections is different. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Dr Ritu Singh, who Axis My India exit poll has predicted win for Congress candidate Manish Tewari, while ABP News-CVoter and NDTV survey say the BJP’s Sanjay Tandon is winning in Chandigarh. NADDA MEETS MALHOTRA National BJP president JP Nadda held a meeting with local party president Jatinderpal Malhotra and candidate Tandon on Saturday evening. Nadda, who was returning to Delhi from Himachal Pradesh, called both leaders at the Chandigarh airport, sources said. BJP candidate Sanjay Tandon with his family in Sector 18. ‘FAKE’ VIDEO GOES VIRAL As the voting started in Chandigarh, a “fake” news video, which claims that Congress-AAP alliance has broken in Chandigarh, went viral. It was reportedly aimed at influencing voters in colonies and villages of Chandigarh. Chandigarh, June 1 After casting her vote, MP Kirron Kher said today that she was ignored by some individuals in the BJP . “It is to be seen whether works, which were done by me, were highlighted during campaigning. If they were, then it is good. No body informed me about several functions of the party. Though I did attend the events I was invited to,” she said. When asked whether she was ignored by the party, she replied, “Not the party but some individuals ignored me.” On being asked whether there are differences within the party, she said, “Yes. There are. That is why I was sent here. But, when it comes to voting, we all are united.” MP Kirron Kher at Government School, Sector 7. PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR Factionalism in the party has been there for a long time. In 2014, there were three BJP contenders — Sanjay Tandon, former MPs Satya Pal Jain and Manish Tewari of the Congress takes a round of the polling station at Dhanas. PRADEEP TEWARI also focused her campaign on colonies and villages, may also spoil calculations of both AAP and the Congress. Tewari had termed the BSP as the B team of the BJP . Hardeep Singh Butrela, who had quit SAD to join AAP , may dent the BJP vote share. After Butrela shifted sides, the SAD did not field anyone from Chandigarh. Workers of the RSS were seen around polling booths encouraging people to vote in “rashtra hit.” Four-time MP and Cong stalwart MP Pawan Kumar Bansal had staye away from campaigning. While Tandon relied on his “local connect” and “brand Modi”, Tewari, who earlier represented Ludhiana and Anandpur Sahib seats, is confident of emerging victorious due to “united and strong” alliance of the Con- c m y b gress and AAP . The former BJP president, Tandon had repeatedly attacked the INDIA bloc candidate for changing constituencies. Tewari had slammed Tandon over the tampering of ballots by Anil Masih in the mayoral polls. Orthopaedic surgeon HC Gupta, aged above 90, shows his ink mark at GMSSSS, Sector 16, Chandigarh; and (right) a patient at the Hallo Majra polling station. PRADEEP TEWARI/NITIN MITTAL Harmohan Dhawan — for the city Lok Sabha seat. Owing to alleged infighting, the party had decided to field a new face and she got ticket, she added.