Himachal Pradesh Election 2022 Live Updates: 37.19 per cent voter turnout till 1 pm; PM Modi urges people to make new voting record

Himachal Pradesh (Press Ki Taquat Bureau) : Himachal Pradesh, where the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress are locked in an aggressive direct fight, recorded a voter turnout of 37.19 per cent in the first five hours till 1 pm on Saturday, news agency PTI reported. The voting commenced on a tardy note and gradually picked up pace as the sun came up in the hill state. The state recorded only five per cent voter turnout in the first hour. Till 11 am, 19.98 per cent polling was recorded. The highest polling of 41.89 per cent was recorded in Sirmour district, followed by 41.17 percent in Mandi, the home district of Chief Minister Jairam Thakur. The high altitude district of Lahaul and Spiti recorded the lowest of 21.95 per cent while Chamba saw 28.35 per cent voting till 1 pm. As many as 412 candidates are contesting the polls from 68 constituencies. The Election Commission has set up 7,881 polling stations. A total of 28.5 lakh male voters, 27 lakh women voters and 38 voters belonging to the third gender will decide which party will form the government for the next five years. With the maximum Assembly seats at 15, Kangra district is crucial in deciding the direction of the elections. Himachal Pradesh’s Chief Electoral Officer Maneesh Garg said all arrangements are in place for the polling. “All 7,884 polling parties have reached the polling stations and set up the polling booths. They are accompanied by security forces. Nearly 50,000 polling staff and around 25,000 security staff have been deployed, As Himachal Pradesh votes today, it is the culmination of a heated campaign, with expectations of a close contest. A confident BJP hit a speed-breaker with multiple rebellions, while the Congress faces the problem of multiple CM faces and their respective lobby of supporters. Meanwhile, election strategy has gained strength in Gujarat, which goes to polls on December 1 and 5. The Congress on Friday night released a third list of seven candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections, in which it has fielded its former MLA Indranil Rajguru who recently returned to the party fold after quitting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). With this, the party has announced names of 96 candidates so far in the state, which has a 182-member Assembly.