World’s highest polling booth in Himachal at 15,256 feet records 100% voter turnout
The Tashigang polling booth witnessed all 47 registered voters in the village, comprising 29 men and 18 women, turning up for the bypoll, an election official said.
Despite a subzero temperature of minus 16 degrees Celsius, world’s highest polling station in Himachal Pradesh’s Tashigang village recorded a 100 per cent voter turnout on Saturday for the bypoll to the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency seat, news agency PTI reported quoting an election official.
Located at a height of 15,256 feet above sea-level, the polling booth witnessed all 47 registered voters in the village turning up for the bypoll. The voters included 29 men and 18 women, the official added.
Apart from the registered voters, as many as five poll officials also cast their votes at the Tashigang polling booth after showing their election duty certificate (EDCs) issued by the assistant returning officers, the official told PTI.
The Tashigang village is located in Lahaul-Spiti district of the northern hill state, which falls under the Mandi parliamentary seat. For the bypolls to this seat, the battle is primarily between former chief minister Vidarbha Singh’s wife Pratibha Singh of the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Kargil war hero Khushal Thakur.
Besides Mandi, polls for three assembly constituencies of Fatehpur, Jubbal-Kotkhai and Arki were held on Saturday.
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Meanwhile, according to a PTI report, villagers of three panchayats in Kinnaur district boycotted the bypoll to the Mandi LS seat to protest against the construction of a hydroelectric project, which they alleged will adversely impact their scenario. Villagers in four polling stations in Shimla district had also boycotted the bypolls owing to poor condition of roads in the region.
Mandi recorded 47.17 per cent voter turnout till 4pm, while Jubbal- Kotkhai, Arki and Fatehpur saw an average turnout of 55.70 per cent till 5pm. The counting of the votes will be held on November 2.
