look news india
Shimla, June 01 (HS). In the last phase of Lok Sabha elections, voting for by-elections on all four seats and six assembly seats of Himachal Pradesh began at 7 am on Saturday. According to the Election Commission, in the first two hours (7 am to 9 am), an average of 14.36 percent voting has taken place on all four Lok Sabha seats of the state. So far in Shimla parliamentary constituency, 14.36 percent voting has taken place.
15.26 percent voting took place in Mandi, 13.72 percent in Kangra, 13.81 percent in Mandi and 14.67 percent in Hamirpur.
If we talk about the assembly by-election, 12.98 percent voting was recorded in Dharamshala, 11 percent in Barsar, 11.95 percent in Lahaul-Spiti, 13.18 percent in Gagret, 12.59 percent in Sujanpur and 14.05 percent in Kutlahar.
Despite the scorching sun on Saturday, voters were seen busy celebrating the festival of democracy. The enthusiasm for voting was such that people started gathering at the polling booths since morning. First-time voters were very enthusiastic about voting. A large number of elderly people were also reaching the polling booths and casting their votes. 94-year-old Mangat Ram, in Rampur of Shimla district, reached the polling booth and cast his vote. He said that he was very excited to come to the polling booth himself to vote. He said that he has been voting continuously since 1962.
Voting is expected to pick up pace as the day progresses. Voting will continue till 6 pm. Meanwhile, technical glitches in EVMs at some places disappointed the voters.
According to information, voting was disrupted for some time in the morning due to EVM malfunction at the polling booth in Lower Khalini of Shimla Assembly constituency of Shimla Parliamentary constituency. However, the Election Department team replaced the faulty EVM and voting started.
State Chief Electoral Officer Manish Garg said that strict security arrangements have been made for peaceful elections. Out of a total of 7992 polling stations in the state, 369 are sensitive. The highest polling station (15256 meters) has been set up in Tashigang in Lahaul-Spiti. There are 62 voters in this polling station.
He said that there are 1254 centenarian voters in the state. Their age is 100 years or more and the Election Commission is enthusiastically welcoming all these voters at the polling booths.
Manish Garg said that there are about 57 thousand handicapped voters in the state and ramps, drinking water facilities, electricity, furniture, waiting rooms and toilets have been arranged to bring handicapped voters to the polling booths. First aid boxes have also been given to the polling parties.
57.11 lakh voters of the state will decide the political fate of 37 candidates on all four seats. Apart from this, by-elections are also being held on six assembly seats, where 25 candidates are in the fray. The election results will be declared on June 04. The main contest is between BJP and Congress on all the seats.
If we talk about Lok Sabha candidates, Anurag Thakur along with his family exercised his franchise in Samirpur, BJP's Kangana Ranaut from Mandi exercised her franchise in Bhabmala, Dr Rajiv Bhardwaj from Kangra exercised his franchise in Nurpur and BJP candidate from Shimla Suresh Kashyap exercised his franchise.