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| 12-15% voting in HP till 1000 hrs |
| Press Trust of India / Shimla May 13, 2009, 12:10 IST |
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Around 12-15 per cent voting was recorded in the first three hours on the four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh today.
Voting started on a slow note at 7,253 polling stations in the state at 7 AM but picked up later, election officials said.
There are 46.03 lakh voters in the hill state. No untoward incident was reported so far during the voting in the state, state election office sources said.
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal cast his vote at his native Samirpur polling station in Hamirpur district with his BJP candidate son Anurag Thakur and other members of the family.
Emerging from the polling booth, Dhumal exuded confidence that BJP would win all the four Parliamentary seats in the state.
Five times Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and presently Congress candidate from Mandi Lok Sabha seat Virbhadra Singh exercised his franchise in Rampur sub-division of Shimla district. Accompanied by wife, son and daughter, Singh cast his vote at Padam Singh Senior Secondary school at Rampur.
Hira Das Bastu (95), who had fought World War II also cast his vote at the same polling station in Rampur.
A report from Keylong, district headquarters of high altitude Lahual and Spiti, said people were seen queuing up at the polling stations since morning.
Over 30 per cent votes were cast till 10 AM in Keylong, the report added.
Electioneering in the district has been helped by reopening of Rohtang pass which is located at a height of 13,050 feet and is known as a gateway to Lahual and Spiti district, on Monday evening.
Hikkam in Lahual and Spiti district is the highest polling station in the state at a height of 16,000 feet where 321 voters would exercise their franchise.
Poll officials and EVMs have been sent by helicopter to polling station at Bara Bhangal in Kangra district located at a height of 15,731 feet, where 43 voters would cast vote.
Altogether 31 candidates are in the fray for the four Parliamentary seats of the state — Mandi, Hamirpur, Kangra and Shimla (reserved) — where voting is taking place in the last phase today. It's battle royal at Mandi seat where Virbhadra Singh of Rampur-Bushere royal family is pitted against scion of Kullu royalty Maheshwar Singh of BJP.
Anurag Thakur, son of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, is taking on rebel BJP leader Narinder Thakur, who switched sides to Congress at his home turf of Hamirpur.
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