New Delhi, Feb 25: The stage is set for a fierce battle of the ballot in tomorrow's assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura in the first acid test for political parties this year. Balloting will be held for 65 assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh and 60 each in the three Northeastern states. Polling for three snow-bound constituencies--Lahaul Spiti, Kinnaur and Pangi Bharmaur-- has been deferred to June 8. The Election Commission has also put off the by-poll for Poreyahat assembly constituency in Jharkhand to March 24 in view of policemen strike in the state and a section of home guards joining them. More than 8.31 million voters are eligible to exercise their franchise which will decide the fate of 1,203 candidates including four chief ministers Prem Kumar Dhumal (Himachal Pradesh), S C Jamir (Nagaland), Flinder Anderson Khonglam (Meghalaya), Manik Sarkar (Tripura), former Chief Ministers V B Singh, Salseng Mark, E K Mawlong, Sudhir Ranjan Majumdar and Samir Ranjan Burman.
Bureau Report