LS polls: Himachal Pradesh records 48.63% voter turnout till 1 pm

A voter turnout of 48.63 per cent was recorded till 1 pm 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 here.

They said the Kangra parliamentary seat recorded 47.08 per cent polling, Mandi 50.44 per cent, Hamirpur 47.70 per cent and the Shimla (SC) seat 49.53 per cent.

Of the six assembly constituencies where bypolls are being held simultaneously, Dharamshala recorded a turnout of 41.14 per cent, Lahaul and Spiti 55.35 per cent, Sujanpur 42.03 per cent, Barsar 35 per cent, Gagret 44.63 per cent and Kutlehar 49 per cent.

In Chamba district's Churah subdivision, residents of the Makhan-Chachul area falling under the Sanval gram panchayat boycotted the Lok Sabha polls over road connectivity and electricity supply issues.

"We will not vote until the district administration comes here and listens to our grievances," Ravi, a local, said.

Villagers also alleged that although the administration was apprised of the problems, nothing has changed. "We are still waiting for internet connectivity, road and electricity and the situation is so pathetic that if someone falls ill, we have to carry patients on foot for 4-5 km to reach a health centre," said Mukesh, another villager.

The six assembly seats, where the bypolls are being held, 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 7 am and will end at 6 pm. As many as 62 candidates -- 37 for the four Lok Sabha seats and 25 for the assembly by-elections -- are in the fray.

Prominent leaders in the fray include Anurag Thakur (BJP), Anand Sharma (Congress), Bollywood actor Kangna 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 Bilaspur. He was accompanied by his wife Mallika Nadda. Later, the BJP leader met with 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.

The Congress candidate from Hamirpur Satpal Raizada also exercised his franchise, while actor Kangana Ranaut, the BJP candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, cast her vote in her native village Bhambla in Mandi district.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri cast their votes along with their family members in their home constituencies of Nadaun in Hamirpur and Haroli in Una district respectively.

Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla and Chief Electoral Officer of Himachal Pradesh Manish Garg cast their votes in Shimla.

BJP state president Rajiv Bindal, Leader of the Opposition 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.

In the plains of Una and Hamirpur districts where the temperatures soar as the day progresses, people come out early to cast their votes.

A large number of people, especially women voters, were seen in long queues outside polling centres. Elderly citizens, first-time voters and people with disabilities also came to exercise their franchise.

Pyar Singh (105) and Akalveer Negi (90) appealed to voters to exercise their franchise for a developed nation after casting their votes in Chamba and Rampur in Shimla district.

Adequate deployment of security forces has been made at 7,992 polling booths and two auxiliary polling stations, while 369 polling booths have been identified as critical, according to officials.

As many as 57,11,969 voters, including 438 people above the age of 100 years, are eligible to vote.