Chandigarh, Feb 5 (PTI) A total of 1,304 candidates are left in the fray in the high-stakes February 20 Punjab assembly polls.

As many as 341 candidates withdrew their nomination papers on Friday which was the last date for the exercise, said Punjab's Chief Electoral Officer S Karuna Raju.

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Raju said 2,266 candidates had filed their nomination papers for the 117 assembly constituencies of the state.

During the scrutiny, 1,645 nomination papers were found valid, he further said. The highest number of 19 candidates are contesting from Sahnewal and Patiala assembly constituencies.

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Five candidates, the least number, were contesting from Dinanagar constituency. Among prominent candidates who are contesting the state assembly polls are Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi from Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur seats and Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu from Amritsar East seat.

Ninety-four-year-old Parkash Singh Badal, who is the oldest candidate in the elections, is fighting from his home turf Lambi seat in Muktsar district.

Former chief minister Amarinder Singh, who resigned as chief minister last year and parted ways with the Congress, is contesting from Patiala Urban seat as a candidate of the Punjab Lok Congress which he heads.

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal is fighting from Jalalabad seat while Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann from Dhuri seat in Sangrur district.

SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia is contesting against Navjot Sidhu from Amritsar East seat while Balbir Singh Rajewal, leader of the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha, a political party of farmers, will fight from Samrala seat.

Voting for Punjab's 117 Assembly seats will be held on February 20 and the counting will take place on March 10.

Punjab is going to see a multi-cornered contest this election with the Congress, the AAP, the SAD-BSP alliance, the BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) and the SSM vying for forming the government.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)