Voting begins for Himachal Pradesh's Bhoranj assembly bypoll

Shimla: The lone assembly seat of Bhoranj in Himachal Pradesh went to bypoll amid tight security on Sunday.

Electors across the constituency in Hamirpur district could be seen reaching polling stations even before voting started at 8 a.m.

"There is no report of any delay in starting the poll process," an electoral officer told IANS.

Five candidates, including three independents, are in the fray.

The main contest is between the state-ruled Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Bhoranj constituency has been a BJP stronghold for three decades.

The bypoll has been necessitated with the death of two-time former minister I.D. Dhiman, who had won six consecutive elections from this seat.

His son Anil Dhiman, a doctor by profession, is in the fray from the BJP. He is pitted against Promila Devi of the Congress.

The constituency has 73,485 voters including 37,843 women.