Himachal polls: Voting concludes; counting on December 8

Shimla: Voting in Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections concluded with a 65.9% turnout recorded till 5 pm, as per the Election Commission of India (ECI). EVMs and VVPATs were sealed and secured at polling booths in Mandi. The counting of votes will be done on December 8.

Voting started off slowly but eventually gathered up speed. Only 5% of eligible voters turned out in the first hour in Himachal Pradesh, where the BJP is in power and the Congress is the opposition. 37.19 per cent of votes were cast as of 1 pm Sirmour district had the highest turnout (41.89 per cent), which was followed by Mandi (41.17per cent), which is where Chief Minister Jairam Thakur hails from. Lahaul and Spiti, a high-altitude district, had the lowest turnout (21.95per cent), while Chamba witnessed 28.35per cent voting through 1 o'clock.

Only 4 per cent voting was recorded in first hour of polling. There were minor hiccups as electronic voting machines developed snags at some places.

JP Nadda, Jai Ram Thakur and Anurag Thakur cast their votes

BJP national president JP Nadda on Saturday cast his vote at Vijaypur in Bilaspur in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, his wife and two daughters cast their votes at a polling booth in Seraj in Mandi district. From Seraj, the four-time lawmaker is in fray again. After casting his vote, Thakur urged the voters to come out in big numbers and enthusiastically participate in the "festival of democracy".

Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday cast his vote in Himachal's Hamirpur in the Assembly polls in the state.

Ninety-year-old Nazrim Mani and his 87-year-old wife cast their votes at a model polling booth in a school that was opened in 1890 in Kalpa village in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, election officials said.

Government Primary School in Kalpa, some 275 km from the state capital in the Kinnaur Assembly constituency, was the first school in the district. After casting the vote, Mani appealed to the voters in the state to participate in this festival of democracy with full enthusiasm.

Greeting the first-timers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the voters to participate in the election process.

"Today is the polling day for all the Assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh. I request all the voters of Devbhoomi to participate with full enthusiasm in this festival of democracy and create a new record of voting," PM Modi tweeted.

"My special wishes to all the youth of the state who will be voting for the first time today," he said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah urged the voters of the state to elect a "strong government" by voting in large numbers.

"Only a strong and corruption-free government can fulfill the aspirations of the people of Devbhoomi by keeping Himachal Pradesh at the forefront of development. I appeal to the voters of Himachal, especially mothers, sisters and the youth, to elect a strong government by voting in maximum numbers for the golden future of the state," said Shah.

Himachal Assembly polls

Of the 412 candidates in the fray, 24 are women and 388 men.

A total of 55,92,828 voters will elect their representatives. Of them, 193,106 are first-time voters in the age of 18-19 years.

There are 121,409 voters above 80 years, while 56,501 voters with disabilities.

The main contest is between the BJP and the Congress.

Facing strong winds of anti-incumbency, the state BJP leadership seems to be banking on Prime Minister Modi's "charisma", while the main Opposition Congress is eyeing to return to the helm by wooing its 2.5-lakh strong government employees, the state's crucial vote bank, with a promise of restoring the old pension scheme.

About 30,000 security personnel, including 67 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and over 11,500 state police personnel have been deployed for peaceful conduct of polling.

In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 44 seats, the Congress 21, the CPM one and Independents two. The voter turnout in the 2017 poll was 75.57 per cent.

The counting of votes for Saturday election will be held on December 8.