Himachal Pradesh bypolls: All set for counting of votes today

The counting of votes for the by-elections to Dharamshala and Pachhad assembly segments in Himachal Pradesh will be held on Thursday with results expected to be declared by the noon.

A state election department official said, “For the Pachhad assembly constituency, counting of votes will be held at the Degree College Rajgarh and for Dharamshala the counting will be held at the Prayas Bhawan, Government Post Graduate Degree College Dharamshala.”

The counting process will begin at 8 am.

Polling for Dharamshala and Pachhad was held on October 21 with more than 69% of the 1.56 lakh voters exercising their franchise for by-elections to two assembly seats in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state.

Dharamshala recorded an average polling of 65.39%, while Pachhad recorded considerably high voter turnout of 72.85%.

A total of 12 candidates are in the fray from the two assembly constituencies––seven from Dharamshala and five from Pachhad.

The main contest is likely to be between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress. However, two strong BJP rebels contesting as independents in both Dharamshala and Pachhad are hoping to queer pitch for the arch rivals.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has put in place elaborate arrangements for the counting. Adequate staff has been deployed for the process besides tight security arrangements to avoid any unfortunate incident.