Punjab Election 2022 Voting Dates: Polls to be held in single phase on 14 February

The schedule for the upcoming assembly polls in Punjab has been announced by the Election Commission (EC). The EC had also announced the polling dates in Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Uttarakhand on 8 January.The Election Commission also took to social media on 10 January to convey some details about the elections. According to the EC, the 117 seats up for grabs in Punjab will vote in a single phase on 14 February.A total of 24,689 polling stations will be there for the upcoming Punjab polls. Approximately more than 2.13 crore votes are eligible to cast their ballots in this election.The notification for the polls will be issued by the EC on 21 January. The last date of filing nominations for the polls is 28 January. Candidates can withdraw their nomination by 31 January.Furthermore, the counting of votes will be done on 10 March, according to the schedule given by the EC.Last year saw infighting among the Congress cadre in the state, with Captain Amarinder Singh resigning from the post of the Chief Minister in September 2021. The reason behind his resignation was the long-standing feud between him and Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Punjab Congress Chief. Following Singh’s resignation, Congress elevated Charanjit Singh Channi to the CM post.Furthermore, Singh later formed his own party, the Punjab Lok Congress and entered into an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last month.The Aam Aadmi Party will also seek to make inroads in the state, especially after its performance in the recent Chandigarh Municipal Corporation polls. The party won 14 wards in the polls, emerging as the biggest winner. It lost the post of the mayor by just one vote in a direct contest with BJP’s Sarabjit Kaur.The Shiromani Akali Dal, which had earlier formed the Punjab government in alliance with the BJP, will also seek to dislodge the Congress government.The withdrawal of the three contentious farm laws by the Centre last year is also expected to have a significant impact on the upcoming elections.