BJP's Jaiveer Shergill appeals to voters to exercise franchise to strengthen democracy

Jalandhar: As the voting in the final phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha election began on Saturday, BJP leader Jaiveer Shergill appealed to the voters to exercise their franchise for the country's future and to strengthen democracy.
"Today is the last stage of elections. I appeal to all the voters in the seventh phase to come in large numbers and vote, especially the people of Punjab should come out and vote to make a record," Shergill told ANI after casting his vote at a polling station in Jalandhar.
"One should vote for the future of the country and to strengthen democracy. I am thankful to the Election Commission for conducting free and fair elections," he added.
AAP's Pawan Kumar Tinu, BJP's Shushil Kumar Rinku, and Congress' Charanjit Singh Channi are the main candidates in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency.
The constituency is reserved for the candidates from the Scheduled Castes.
In the 2019 election, Congress' Santokh Singh Chaudhary won the constituency with a victory margin of 19,491 votes, securing 3,85,712 votes.
Chaudhary defeated Charanjit Singh Atwal of the SAD, who got 3,66,221 votes. The constituency witnessed a significant voter turnout of 63.05 per cent in 2019.
All 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab went to the polls on Saturday.
In the last phase of the election, voting is being held in 57 parliamentary constituencies across eight states and the Union Territories including Bihar, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
The 57 Lok Sabha seats include 41 general category seats, three reserved for Scheduled Tribes, and 13 for Scheduled Castes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the 906 candidates in the fray in this phase, during which 10.06 crore electors are eligible to cast their votes.
Of the seats at stake, the BJP had bagged 25 in 2019, while the Congress won eight, and the Trinamool Congress won nine. The Biju Janata Dal won four seats and the Janata Dal (United) won three; the Bahujan Samajwadi Party, Apna Dal, and Akali Dal won two seats each; and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Aam Aadmi Party each snagged a single seat.
Over the last six phases, voting has been completed in 486 Lok Sabha seats across 28 States and Union Territories. Today, the voting is taking place in the remaining 42 Assembly constituencies of the Odisha State Legislative Assembly. The counting of the votes polled is scheduled to take place on June 4 when the results will be known.