Shimla, July 10 (HS). An average of 68 percent voting has taken place till 5 pm on Wednesday for the by-elections in Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh assembly constituencies of Himachal Pradesh. According to the State Election Department, during this period, the highest voting of 75.2 percent was recorded in Nalagarh, 65.8 percent in Hamirpur and 63.9 percent in Dehra among the three constituencies. Voting took place till 6 pm. In such a situation, the percentage of voting will increase.
Voting for the three assembly seats of the state began at 7 am on Wednesday. The pace of voting was very slow in the morning and only 16 percent voting took place in the first two hours. 32 percent voting was recorded till 11 am, 48 percent till 1 pm and 59 percent till 3 pm. The results of the by-elections on all three seats will be declared on July 13.
There are more than 2 lakh 55 thousand 4 hundred voters in all three assembly constituencies. 13 candidates are trying their luck in all three constituencies. Five candidates each are in the fray in Kangra and Nalagarh while three candidates are in the fray for Hamirpur assembly seat.
According to the Election Commission, there are 78,095 voters in Hamirpur assembly constituency. Similarly, there are 94,755 voters in Nalagarh and 86,520 voters in Dehra. The main contest on these three seats is between Congress and BJP. From Dehra assembly constituency, there is a contest between Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu's wife and Congress' Kamlesh Thakur and BJP's Hoshiar Singh. On the Hamirpur seat, there is a contest between BJP's Ashish Sharma and Congress' Dr. Pushpendra Verma, while on the Nalagarh seat, there is a contest between Congress' Hardeep Singh Baba and BJP candidate KL Thakur. Hamirpur is the home district of Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and former Union Minister and MP Anurag Singh Thakur. In such a situation, this by-election has become a question of prestige for both the leaders.
The election result has no effect on the Congress government
The results of the assembly by-elections will not have any effect on the ruling Congress government, because the Sukhu government is already in majority. At present, the total number of MLAs in the assembly is 65. Of these, Congress has 38 MLAs and BJP has 27 MLAs. Whatever the results after the voting, the Sukhu government will still have the majority. By-elections are being held due to the resignation of three independent MLAs. These three former independent MLAs are contesting the elections on BJP tickets.