Dip in turnout, voting peaceful across Himachal Pradesh
Pratibha Chauhan
Shimla, June 1
Himachal recorded a voter turnout of 68.0 per cent for the four Lok Sabha segments, registering a decline of 4.42 per cent as compared to the last polls in 2019.
The voting for four Lok Sabha and six Assembly by-polls was peaceful with no incident of election related violence reported from anywhere in the state, barring reports of EVMs developing snag and poll boycott in some areas by locals in support of their demands. There are a total of 57.11 lakh voters in the state who will decide the fate of 37 candidates for the parliamentary polls and 25 for the six Assembly by-polls.
The voter turnout is likely to increase with the voting figure of 68 per cent being until 5.30 pm, with half an hour more left for polling. Himachal had registered the highest ever voter turnout of 72.42 in the 2019 parliamentary polls. “The final polling figures would be released only after the return of polling parties and scrutiny of documents,” said Maneesh Garg, Chief Electoral Officer.
The highest voter turnout of 74.09 per cent was recorded in the tribal Assembly seat of Lahaul Spiti. There was brisk voting in the four Lok Sabha constituencies with a polling percentage of 31.92 being recorded by 11 am and almost 50 per cent by 1 pm. Long queues could be seen at most polling booths at 7 am when polling started as people wanted to cast their vote before the mercury soared.
Besides the candidates, all senior leaders, including BJP president JP Nadda, CM Sukhvinder Sukhu, ministers, former CMs PK Dhumal, Shanta Kumar, Jai Ram Thakur and MLAs cast their vote in the morning only at their native places.
Being a bipolar polity, there is a direct contest between the two main political players, Congress and BJP even though BSP has fielded its candidates on all four Lok Sabha seats. The CPM and AAP, even though having a negligible presence, have extended support to the Congress. Congress faces an uphill task of performing well with BJP winning all four seats, both in 2019 and 2014.
Highest polling station records 79.03%
- The world’s highest polling station situated at the height of 15,256 feet at Tashigang in Spiti valley of tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti witnessed 79.03 per cent voter turnout. Of the total 52 voters, 28 male and 21 female voters cast their votes. In the previous Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and Lok Sabha by-election in 2021, Tashigang had witnessed 100 per cent turnout.
- A few days ago, the residents of Tashigang village had given a call to boycott the elections. They were angry with the state government because services of 13 daily wage workers had been terminated by the PWD. Finally, the Kaza administration met villagers and convinced them to cast their ballots, which resulted the voter turnout of 79.03 pc.
The elections will decide the fate of four-time MP and Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur (Hamirpur), Congress leader Anand Sharma (Kangra) and actress Kangana Ranaut and Vikramaditya Singh, both from Mandi. There are a total of 37 candidates in the fray for four Lok Sabha seats while 25 candidate are contesting for the six assembly by-polls in Dharamsala, Gagret and Kutlehar (Una), Sujanpur and Barsar (Hamirpur) and tribal seat of Lahaul Spiti.
57.11 lakh total voters
- 37 in fray for Lok Sabha poll
- 25 for six Assembly bypoll
- 74.09 pc, the highest voter turnout in dist (Lahaul Spiti)
The stakes for CM Sukhvinder Sukhu and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur are high with bitterly contested elections for the six Assembly by-polls. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda and union Home Minister Amit Shah led the BJP’s campaign, for the Congress Priyanka Gandhi led the party’s onslaught against BJP devoting four days to the hill state. Rahul Gandhi and AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge also devoted a day each for campaign.
