CHANDIGARH: Polling began on Saturday morning for 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab and the lone Chandigarh seat in the seventh and final phase of parliamentary elections.
Amid tight security arrangements, polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, said the officials.
INDIA bloc allies the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are contesting separately while the BJP and SAD are contesting the Lok Sabha polls on their own for the first time since 1996.
The Sukhbir Badal-led SAD walked out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2020 over the now-repealed three farm laws.
Besides the Congress, AAP, SAD and the BJP, two other parties SAD (Amritsar) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have also fielded their candidates.
Punjab is going to witness a multi-cornered contest on all 13 Lok Sabha seats.
In Chandigarh, 6,59,805 voters comprising 3,18,226 women and 35 third gender are eligible to exercise their franchise.