Shimla: As voting began in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday amid tight security, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the voters in the hill state to enthusiastically participate in the "festival of democracy", a reference to the assembly polls, and create a new voting record. In a tweet, PM Modi also greeted the young voters who will be exercising their franchise for the first time.


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People of the hill state are voting today to elect a new government, with the incumbent BJP and the opposition Congress squaring off in their bid to form the next government. Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur also urged voters to come out in big numbers and enthusiastically participate in the "festival of democracy".


He said every vote will help build a prosperous Himachal Pradesh. "First vote, then refreshments. Dear fellow state residents, today is the day of voting. "My humble request to all voters of Himachal Pradesh is to participate in this festival of democracy with full enthusiasm," he said in a tweet in Hindi.


 



 


Over 55 lakh voters in Himachal Pradesh will exercise their franchise on Saturday to elect the 68-member Assembly in the single-phase poll that began at 8 AM and will continue till 5 PM. Out of 412 candidates in the fray, among them 24 are women and 388 men.


A total of 55,92,828 voters will elect their representatives. Of them, 193,106 are first-time voters in the age of 18-19 years. 
There are 121,409 voters above 80 years, while 56,501 others with disabilities.


The main contest is between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress. Facing strong winds of anti-incumbency, the BJP leadership led by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur seems to be banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s "charisma", while the main Opposition Congress is eyeing to return to the helm by wooing its 2.5-lakh strong government employees, the state`s crucial vote bank, with a promise of restoring the old pension scheme.


The senior leadership of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is in the fray for the first time in the Assembly polls, has been missing from the state with its leaders focusing on strengthening its vote bank in another poll-bound Gujarat.


In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 44 seats, the Congress 21, the CPM one and Independents two. The voter turnout was 75.57 per cent. The counting of votes cast on Saturday will be held on December 8.


Several teams of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) comprising 6,700 personnel and 15 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) companies have been deployed for holding free and fair Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh. Besides this, around 50,000 government employees have been put on poll duty, and 25,000 police officers are also stationed across the state. Teams from the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) comprising 800 personnel have also been posted.