Over 74% Polling in Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections 2017
Image Courtesy: CPI(M) Himachal Pradesh
A record of over 74% voters, highest in four decades, have turned out to the polling stations to cast their votes in the Himachal Pradesh assembly election on Thursday, reported the All India Radio.
A total of 50.25 lakh voters, including 19 lakh women and 14 transgenders, from across the state are exercising their franchise in the single-phase poll that began at 8 a.m. As many as 7,525 polling booths have been set up in the state which consist 68 assembly constituencies.
"Despite the cold and minor hiccups like electronic voting machines developing snags at some places, there was no report of any delay in starting the poll process," an electoral officer told IANS.
Even though the main contest is between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) is expected to put up a tough fight in some constituencies by raising the issues of farmers, workers and common people.
The Congress and the BJP have fielded candidates on all 68 seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have fielded 42 and 14 candidates, respectively. A total of 337 candidates, 19 of them women, are in the fray.
The prestigious Shimla (Urban) constituency is witnessing a four-cornered contest where the sitting BJP MLA Suresh Bharadwaj is facing a tough battle from Sanjay Chauhan of CPI(M). Sanjay Chauhan is a former mayor of the Shimla Municipal Corporation. Harbhajan Singh Bhajji of the Congress, and Congress rebel Harish Janartha who is contesting as an independent are the other prominent candidates in the four-cornered contest.
Theog is another constituency where the CPI(M) is expected to give the Congress and the BJP a run for their money. Former MLA Rakesh Singha who has earlier represented Shimla in the assembly is the CPI(M) candidate in Theog. The CPI(M) has been organising corner meetings and street plays which portray the issues of the public as part of its campaign.
The Congress has projected incumbent Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh as its chief ministerial candidate, while Prem Kumar Dhumal is the BJP's.
The Hikkim polling station in Lahaul-Spiti district, the country's highest polling booth at 14,567 ft, has 194 voters. The polling station in Kaa village in Kinnaur has the lowest number of voters at six.
The vote counting will be held on December 18 along with that of Gujarat.
(With inputs from IANS)
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