Chandigarh, January 28: Voting for by-poll to Jind assembly constituency in Haryana to decide the fate of 21 candidates began at 7 AM on Monday. The polling will conclude at 5 PM while the result will be declared on January 31. According to reports, a total of 21 candidates, including Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, are in the fray in the polls. Around 1.7 lakh people are expected to exercise their franchise in the bye-polls.  As per reports, the Jind constituency has a substantial vote of the Scheduled Castes (SC) and backward classes (around 50 per cent) and Jats (around 25 per cent).  Jind By-Elections 2019: BJP Names Krishan Middha As Party’s Candidate for Bypolls. 

Security has been beefed up across the state and over 3,000 Haryana Police personnel and para-military forces have been stationed in the constituency. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA Hari Chand Middha in August 2018. The key candidates in the constituency include Krishan Middha of BJP, Randeep Singh Surjewala of Congress and Umed Singh Redhu of INLD. Counting of votes will take place on 31st of this month. Multi-cornered Contest on Cards as EC Announces Bypoll to Jind Assembly Seat in Haryana.

Voting Underway in Haryana:

The poll is a test for all the four major parties in the fray - the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the newly formed Jannayak Janata Party (JJP). The campaigning for Jind bypoll ended at 5 pm on Saturday, restricting candidates now only to door-to-door canvassing for seeking votes from about 1.75 lakh voters of the constituency.

The campaigning in the state was dominated by charges and counter-charges with BJP, Congress, INLD and JJP eyeing the results as a self-assessment exercise in what has been dubbed by many a "semi-final" ahead of Lok Sabha polls this year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 28, 2019 09:13 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).