Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh Lok Sabha Election 2019: Counting of votes on Thursday

The fate of at least 537 candidates contesting Lok Sabha election 2019 from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh will be declared on Thursday, May 23. The results of all the 24 Lok Sabha constituencies (Punjab 13, Haryana 10 and Chandigarh 1) are expected to be declared by late Thursday evening.

Some of the key candidates contesting the Lok Sabha election in Punjab are BJP-SAD's Sunny Deol from Gurdaspur, Hardeep Singh Puri from Amritsar, Sukhbir Singh Badal from Firozpur, Harsimrat Kaur Badal from Bathinda, Congres' Sunil Jakhar from Gurdaspur, Hardeep Puri from Amritsar, Preneet Kaur from Patiala, Manish Tiwari from Anandpur Sahib and AAP's Bhagwant Mann. In most seats in Punjab, the fight is straight up between Congress and SAD-BJP alliance.

In Haryana, some of the most prominent names on the battlefield are BJP's Rao Inderjit Singh from Gurgaon, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Chief Minister of Haryana from Sonipat, and BJP's Krishan Pal Gurjar from Faridabad. Jannayak Janata Party (JJP)'s Dushyant Chautala is seeking a second Lok Sabha term in Hisar.

In the previous Lok Sabha election, BJP had won seven out of 10 consistencies in Haryana. INLD managed to bag two seats while Congress was reduced to just one seat. This time too, BJP is expected to continue the momentum from the victories in the municipal polls.

Punjab saw a polling percentage of 59 per cent in 13 seats while in Chandigarh, 64 per cent turnout was registered. A voter turnout of 69.50 per cent was recorded in the 10 Lok Sabha seats of Haryana, where 223 candidates, including two Union ministers and a former chief minister, are in the fray. The Union Territory of Chandigarh has one unreserved Lok Sabha seat.

The voting for all the 10 seats in Haryana took place in a single phase in the sixth phase on May 12. Punjab and Chandigarh went to the polls on the same day in a single phase in the seventh phase of Lok Sabha election, on May 19.

According to most of the exit polls, Punjab, which is currently being governed by Captain Amarinder Singh, is most likely to witness the flag of the grand old party flying high in the state. While the BJP-SAD alliance is likely to bag 4-6 seats, Congress is expected to lead with at least 6-8. Kejriwal's AAP, which had won 4 seats in Punjab in 2014 Lok Sabha election, is expected to settle down with 0-2 seats.

According to Aajtak-Axis, the Congress is most likely to win eight to nine Lok Sabha seats, while BJP would settle with three to five seats out of a total number of 13 seats in the state.

According to an IANS-CVOTER Exit Polls, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to win nine out of Haryana's 10 Lok Sabha seats whereas United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is projected to win one seat, the same number as in 2014. Chanakya exit poll figures suggested that the BJP-led NDA government would sweep all the ten seats in Haryana, while India TV-CNX predicted nine seats for the saffron party in the state.

Aajtak-Axis and Times Now-VMR 2019 said that the BJP is most likely to win a minimum of eight seats in Haryana. Congress is expected to bag a maximum of two seats in the state, the exit poll suggested. NDTV's poll of polls says BJP will win around 8 to 12 seats in Haryana, while Congress and INLD may have to face disappointment. India TV-CNX predicts BJP will win nine states in Haryana, while Congress is likely to bag just one seat.

For Chandigarh, which is the capital of both Haryana and Punjab, India Today-Axis My India exit poll predicted a clear win for the BJP.

Here, the BJP has retained its outgoing MP Kirron Kher, while the Aam Aadmi Party has fielded former Union Minister Harmohan Dhawan, a rebel BJP MP who had supported Kher in the previous Lok Sabha election. Congress nominee and former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is also in the fray from Chandigarh.