Assembly polls in Himachal begins; PM Modi urges state to vote in record numbers

Shimla, November 9: The high voltage battle of votes and power between Congress and BJP in Himachal Pradesh begins on Thursday morning. Notably, elections to the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly are being held in a single phase and fate of some biggest political leaders will be sealed in electronic voting machines.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also urged all the people of Himachal Pradesh to participate in the Assembly polls. “Urging people of Himachal Pradesh to vote in record numbers,” PM Modi said on Twitter.

More than 50 lakh eligible voters will cast their votes for 68-member legislative assembly. However, polling in Himachal began at 8 AM and will end at 5 PM. 337 candidates, including 19 women, are in the fray. At least 7,525 polling booths have been set up, of which nearly 1,300 have been identified as critical and vulnerable. For the first time, Electronic Voting Machines with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is being used at all polling booths.

Briefing media in Shimla last evening, State Chief Electoral Officer Pushpendra Rajput said, the EVMs and VVPATs are fully safe and secure. Apart from State Police and Home Guards, 65 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure free and fair polls. While BJP and Congress are locking horns in all 68 seats, BSP is contesting in 42, CPI(M) in 14 and CPI in 3 seats.

However, the counting of votes will be taken up on the 18th of next month. Meanwhile, the Election Commission on Monday asked media to refrain from publishing any articles or programmes related to the prediction of election results of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat Assemblies. The Election Commission further said that no such item should be published from 8 AM today until 6 PM on the 14th of next month when the second and final phase of Gujarat Assembly elections will be held.

The Commission said, prediction of results in any manner, including by political analysts and astrologers, is a violation of Section 126 A of Representation of People Act. The section is aimed at preventing electors going to vote from being influenced by the predictions.

Importantly, this election is crucial for chief minister Virbhadra Singh as he has already announced that this was going to be his last election. CM Virbhadra Singh is also facing the corruption charges.