Ludhiana, June 19 -- As many as 1.74 lakh voters in Ludhiana West will exercise their right to franchise on Thursday in the by-election which has 14 candidates in fray. The bypoll comes after 20 days of campaigning and will be followed by the counting of votes on June 23.

The election is expected to witness a tight four-cornered contest among the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). AAP has nominated Sanjeev Arora, a sitting Rajya Sabha MP and prominent industrialist, whose declared assets, including those of his spouse, amount to Rs.301 crore. This makes him the richest candidate in the recent Punjab elections. Arora's candidature has triggered criticism from Opposition...