Chandigarh, Feb 20: Nearly 34.1 per cent voters had exercised their franchise to elect a 117-seat assembly in Punjab till 1300 hours on Sunday.
Barring a few minor incidents involving polling agents of different parties, the balloting was going on smoothly in the state, officials said.
Polling was initially slow in rural areas but faster in urban areas. Polling began at 8 am hours and will continue till 6 pm.
A total of 2,12,75,066 people are eligible to vote in the election in which 1,304 candidates are in the fray. There are 24,689 polling stations.
Prominent personalities who exercised their franchise include Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, former Chief Ministers Parkash Singh Badal and Capt Amarinder Singh, AAP Chief Ministerial face Bhagwant Mann and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu. Meanwhile, the Election Commission impounded the car of Bollywood actor Sonu Sood, brother of Congress candidate from Moga Malvika Sood, while he was visiting polling booths in the constituency.
The Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Shiromani Akali Badal-Bahujan Samaj Party combine, BJP-Punjab Lok Congress-Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) alliance, farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal-led Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM) and BKU leader Gurnam Singh Charuni-led Sanyukt Sangharsh Party (SSP) alliance have fielded candidates in almost all the 117 seats.
