Lok Sabha elections: Himachal records 32% polling in first four hours
Of the six assembly constituencies where bypolls are being held simultaneously, Dharamshala recorded a turnout of 27.30%, Lahaul and Spiti 30.98%, Sujanpur 26.30%, Barsar 22%, Gagret 29% and Kutlehar 31.90%.
A voter turnout of 31.92% was recorded till 11am on Saturday in the four Lok Sabha constituencies of Himachal Pradesh where polling is underway in the last phase of the general election, officials said in Shimla.
They said the Kangra parliamentary seat recorded a turnout of 31.29%, Mandi 33.02%, Hamirpur 31.25% and the Shimla (SC) seat 32.22%.
Of the six assembly constituencies where bypolls are being held simultaneously, Dharamshala recorded a turnout of 27.30%, Lahaul and Spiti 30.98%, Sujanpur 26.30%, Barsar 22%, Gagret 29% and Kutlehar 31.90%.
The assembly seats fell vacant after the disqualification of six Congress legislators from the Vidhan Sabha for defying a party whip to vote in favour of the government during the budget. Later, these MLAs joined the BJP and were fielded from their respective assembly constituencies.
Voting began at 7am and will end at 6pm. As many as 62 candidates -- 37 for the four Lok Sabha seats and 25 for the assembly byelections -- are in the fray.
Prominent leaders in the fray include Anurag Thakur (BJP), Anand Sharma (Congress), actor Kangana Ranaut (BJP), Vikramaditya Singh (Congress) and sitting BJP MP from Shimla Suresh Kashyap.
BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda was the first to vote at the Vijaypur Anganwadi centre in his home district of Bilaspur. He was accompanied by wife Mallika. Later, the BJP leader met people and had tea at a shop owned by an old friend.
Union minister and BJP candidate from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur, accompanied by his father and former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and other family members, cast his vote at the Samirpur polling booth in Hamirpur district.
Kangana Ranaut cast her vote at her native Bhambla village in Mandi district.
BJP state president Rajiv Bindal, leader of the opposition and former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, BJP candidates from the Kangra Lok Sabha seat Rajiv Bhardwaj and the Shimla seat Suresh Kashyap, and former BJP minister and scion of the erstwhile Kullu estate Maheshwar Singh were among those who exercised their franchise in the first two hours of polling.
BJP candidate from the tribal Lahaul and Spiti assembly segment Ravi Thakur, Independent candidate Ram Lal Markanda, who is a former minister, and Congress candidate Anuradha were among the early voters.
In the plains of Una and Hamirpur districts where the temperatures soar as the day progresses, people come out early to cast their votes.
In Chamba district’s Churah sub division, residents of the Makhan-Chachul area falling under the Sanval gram panchayat boycotted the Lok Sabha elections over their demand for proper road connectivity and electricity supply. “We will not vote until the district administration comes here and listens to our grievances,” Ravi, a local resident, said.
