CHANDIGARH/JIND: Polling for the byelection to the Jind assembly constituency clocked voter turnout of 75.77%, according to figures released by the Election Commission. A total of 1.3 lakh out of 1.72 lakh voters exercised their franchise on Monday.In October 2014 assembly elections, Jind had registered almost similar number — 75.81% of the total 1.21 lakh voters had exercised their franchise.There were a total 174 polling stations in the entire constituency — voting was around 71% in urban areas and around 85% in rural areas. There are around 1.8 lakh votes in urban areas and around 63,000 rural votes.The counting of the votes would be held on Thursday, January 31. All the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were sealed after the polling and transported to Arjun stadium in Jind city for counting.The voting remained peaceful as no incident of violence or even a minor scuffle was reported. Despite cold wave in the state, huge enthusiasm was witnessed among the voters. Long queues outside polling stations were seen from 7 am till 5.30 pm.The Jind constituency byelection is seen as a high stakes battle for the ruling Khattar government that fielded Krishan Midha, son of late INLD MLA Hari Chand Midha. The byelection was held because the two-time MLA died in August 2018. The Midha family, however, switched their loyalty to the BJP.The Congress fielded senior leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, who is national in-charge of the party’s communication wing. Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) supported Digvijay Chautala, who had to contest as an independent. The bypoll, however, is being seen as the first test at the hustings for the newly-formed outfit. The state’s main opposition party, INLD chose a local politician, Umed Redhu, and party chief Abhay Chautala made the bypoll result a prestige issue as he is keen to secure decent share of votes compared to his estranged nephews.Although the tenure of the elected candidate would be only for around eight months, the result of the byelection is likely to have a deep impact on the upcoming parliamentary and state assembly elections slated for April and October this year, respectively.Twenty-one candidates, including two women, are in the fray. Nearly 1.7 lakh people, including 80,556 women, were eligible to vote.Elaborate security arrangements were made to ensure smooth and peaceful conduct of polling. Nearly 3,000 policemen had been put on duty, a senior police official said earlier.

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