Voting to elect 117-member Punjab Assembly took place on Saturday. In a three-cornered contest with Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP, Congress and new entrant Aam Aadmi Party, Punjab is battling anti-incumbency after a 10-year rule.
In the high-stake election, first after Modi Government's demonetization move, 1,145 candidates, including 81 women and a transgender are in the fray.
The early voters included General JJ Singh (Red) of SAD, Pargat Singh of Congress, Sucha Singh Chhotepur of Apna Punjab Party (APP), and Bhagwant Mann, Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi and Sukhpal SIngh Kahiara of AAP.
Congress candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu said AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal had joined hands with fundamentalists to fight the state polls.
General (Retd) JJ Singh said SAD-BJP will perform a hattrick and form the government.
The AAP, which had won four Lok Sabha seats in 2014, has plunged into the contest in a big way with its chief Arvind Kejriwal criss-crossing large parts of the state.
The Badal family came under fierce attack from AAP over alleged corruption, drug menace and law and order while the SAD-BJP and Congress accused AAP of flirting with extremists and targeted Kejriwal for being an "outsider".
Kejriwal, in turn, accused Congress Chief Amarinder Singh and the Badals of being hand in glove.
Key contestants whose fate will be decided include: Punjab Congress Chief Amarinder Singh (Patiala and Lambi seats), Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal (Lambi) and his son Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal (Jalalabad), AAP MP Bhagwant Mann (Jalalabad), Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia (Majitha) and cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu as Congress nominee (Amritsar East).