Chandigarh: Ahead of the bye-election for the 21-Tarn Taran seat in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, five candidates have officially withdrawn their nomination papers, reducing the contesting candidates to 15.
A spokesperson from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab, confirmed that today, the last day for withdrawal, candidates Harpal Singh, Nirmal Kaur, Gurmeet Kaur, Sarika Jorha, and Harpreet Singh opted out of the race.
Following the scrutiny of nominations, 20 candidates were initially declared valid. After these withdrawals, 15 candidates remain in the fray. The key contenders include Sukhwinder Kaur (Shiromani Akali Dal), Harjit Singh Sandhu (Bharatiya Janata Party), Harmeet Singh Sandhu (Aam Aadmi Party), Karanbir Singh (Indian National Congress), and Sham Lal Gandhi (Sacho Sach Party). The rest are independent candidates: Naib Singh, Arun Kumar Khurmi Rajpoot, Harpal Singh Bhangu, Harbrinder Kaur Usman, Advocate Komalpreet Singh, Jaswant Singh Sohal, Neetu Shutteran Wala, Mandeep Singh, Mandeep Singh Khalsa, and Vijay Kumar.
The polling for the bye-election is scheduled for November 11, 2025, from 7 AM to 6 PM, with the counting of votes and declaration of results set for November 14, 2025.