70.62 pc polling in urban local bodies in Himachal

Polling for election to the 52 urban local bodies in Himachal Pradesh ended peacefully today, with 70.62 per cent electorate exercising their franchise.
Shah Talai in Bilaspur district recorded the highest polling percentage at 87.67 per cent while Chopal in Shimla district registered the lowest 50.4 per cent voting.
The polling started on a dull note in the morning with only 10 to 15 per cent voters casting their votes in first two hours but it gained momentum as the day advanced and touched 55 per cent at 2 PM and touched 70.62 per cent on the closing.
Polling was held for 52 urban local bodies -- 29 municipal councils and 23 nagar panchayats.

Voters of Ner Chowk in Mandi completely boycotted the poll, opposing formation of the Nagar Panchayat.
The candidates from nine wards of the local body had withdrawn from the contest while two candidates of a ward could not withdraw their candidature due to some technical problem, In that ward, no voter cast their vote.

Thus poling was held for 436 wards.
The counting is in progress. So far Congress has an edge in over 30 municipal bodies while the BJP has gained majority in 10.
The BJP backed candidates did not fare well in the strongholds of party stalwarts like former chief minister Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal and Union Health minister J P Nadda.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh claimed that the people overwhelmingly supported the Congress party which was vindication of its policies and programmes and good work done by the government in the past three years.