Uttarakhand sees 68% voting

Around 68 per cent polling was witnessed in the Uttarakhand assembly elections on Wednesday, bettering the voting percentage of the past two state polls, officials said.

"The 68 per cent is better than the 66 per cent recorded in 2012 and 64 per cent in 2007," a poll official said.

Of the main constituencies, Nainital registered 70 per cent, Haridwar 70 per cent,

Uttarkashi 73 and Udhamnghnagar 70 percentage.

Polling in 69 of the 70 constituencies in the hill state ended on a peaceful note, Election Commission officials said.

This is the fourth assembly polls in the state where 7.5 million voters decided the fate of 628 candidates.

Men and women braved inclement weather at some places and voted in large numbers, officials said.

Polling in Karnprayag was suspended due to the death of the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate. Voting there will be held on March 9.

According to an official, postal ballots will be received till March 11 morning, the day votes will be counted in all five states including Uttarakhand.

Uttarakhand had 10,685 polling stations. A total of 1,409 of them were classified "very sensitive", an official euphemism to mean trouble could be expected there.

A polling station at Yamunotri was located at a height of 9,800 feet above sea level.

Although the Bahujan Samaj Party is also in the race, the Uttarakhand contest was dominantly between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

--IANS

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