Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sibin C announced on Sunday that poll symbols have been allotted to all 328 candidates running for Punjab’s 13 Lok Sabha seats. The symbol “mike” (microphone) was given to Amritpal Singh, the chief of Waris Punjab De, who is being held under the National Security Act, so he can contest as an independent candidate for the Khadoor Sahib seat.
According to the CEO, 169 of the candidates are independents. He added that voters could use the ‘Know Your Candidate’ app to review information about each candidate and their affidavits that were submitted to the Election Commission.
The CEO also mentioned that voting would take place on June 1 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and that the election preparations were nearing their conclusion.
Symbols assigned to independent candidates
District election officers have assigned the following symbols to independent candidates: Chakki, farmer with sugarcane, apple, tongs, hockey stick and ball, stool, ship, gas cylinder, battery torch, tiller, batsman, computer, bat, harmonium, dumbbell, cauliflower, pressure cooker, laptop, plastering trowel, sewing machine, bench, boat with man and sail, grapes, coconut farm, diamond, camera, pencil sharpener, stethoscope, table, lunch box and baby walker.
Independent candidates
CEO further highlighted that there are 26 contenders vying for the Gurdaspur seat, including 14 Independent candidates. While there are 27 nominees in Khadoor Sahib and 30 candidates running in Amritsar, there are 18 independent candidates in each of the two constituencies.
Half of the 14 candidates in Fatehgarh Sahib and 26 of the 43 candidates in Ludhiana are independents. In the Faridkot race, there are 28 contenders, and 12 of them are independents.
Eight of the 18 candidates in Bathinda are independents, compared to 17 of the 29 candidates in Ferozepur. In the Patiala contest, 15 out of 26 candidates are independents, as are nine of the 23 contenders in Sangrur.