Himachal polls: Voting begins for high-stakes electoral battle

Representational image (PTI Photo)(PTI4_11_2019_000078B)

The voting for Himachal Pradesh elections, a two-pronged battle between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress has begun. Over 55.92 lakh voters will decide the fate of 412 candidates in the hill state.

Upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh have received fresh snowfall, bringing the temperature down by several notches. In the tribal Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur and Chamba districts, 140 polling stations are snowbound.

For the smooth conduct of polling, as many as  30,000 security personnel including 67 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been deployed in the state.

Also Read | Himachal polls: Here's a look at key candidates

There are 7,884 polling stations in the state, of these 7,235 are in rural areas and 646 in urban pockets.  Polling will continue till 5:30 pm today and votes will be counted on December 8 along with Gujarat.

Ruling BJP has expressed confidence of returning to power on the basis of performance, while the Congress is hoping that voters will stick to tradition of alternate governments.

In the last assembly polls in 2017, the BJP won 44 seats, Congress 21, two were independents while one seat was won by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which has fielded candidates on 11 assembly segments.

The opposition Congress in its manifesto has promised restoration of old pension scheme, 300 units of free electricity, setting up of a commission for the youth to look into their issues of education and employment generation, besides financial assistance of Rs 1500 to women.

Meanwhile, the BJP is seeking a second chance and has promised implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC), 33 percent reservation to women in government jobs, five more medical colleges in the state and cycles for girl students in classes 6 to 12.