With over 7.9 L registered so far, Mohali sees uptick in voters

While the voter enrolment for Lok Sabha polls in Mohali is still underway, over 7.9 lakh voters have already registered in district, up by 73,713 as compared to 7.17 lakh voters in 2109 general elections.

The number of voters in 2014 Lok Sabha elections stood at 6.9 lakh. For 2024 polls, the voters include 4,14,379 males, 3,76,298 females and 36 from the transgender community.

Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency, formed after the delimitation in 2009, has nine assembly segments: Mohali, Kharar, Ropar, Chamkaur Sahib, Balachaur, Nawanshahr, Banga, Garhshankar and Anandpur Sahib.

Dera Bassi assembly, which comprises Zirakpur, falls under the Patiala constituency.

While 2,74,085 voters in Kharar and 2,28,025 in Mohali city will vote to choose Sri Anandpur Sahib MP, 2,88,603 voters in Dera Bassi will contribute to seal the fate of Patiala MP.

First time voters

For the 2024 general elections, those turning 18 on or before April 1 can enrol by May 5.

Our of the voters registered so far, 16,894 will vote for the first time. A total of 12,000 first time voters had registered ahead of the 2019 elections.

Among the 5,629 first time voters registered from Kharar assembly so far; 3,331 are male and 2,298 female. Out of the 4,694 first time voters in Mohali, 2,642 are males and 2,052 are female.

In Dera Bassi, 4,009 male and 2,562 female voters will exercise their franchise for the first time.

District election officer Aashika Jain said that a campaign to increase the number of voters is going on. “We are leaving no stone unturned to motivate first time voters. Everyone should vote to form a strong government for the progress of the country”, Jain said.

Patiala and Anandpur Sahib constituencies have 818 polling booths. In 2019, Anandpur Sahib constituency recorded 65% turnout, less as compared to 69.81% in 2014. Mohali also saw a slight dip from 67.88% in 2014 to 67% in 2019. In Kharar, the dip was significant, with only 61% turnout as compared to 70.57% in 2014.

Congress candidate Manish Tewari won from Sri Anandpur in 2019 and Preneet Kaur, wife of former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh won the MP elections from Patiala in 2019 contesting on a Congress mandate.

Preneet recently quit the Congress and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.