In the by-elections on three assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh 70% voting took place till 6pm. In many polling booths, people kept waiting for their turn to vote even after 7 :30 pm.
The people of Nalagarh assembly constituency showed the most enthusiasm for voting. Here 78.1% people cast their votes in the by-election.
65.42% people voted in Dehra seat and 66.8% in Hamirpur. Out of 86250 voters in Dehra, 55408 voted. These include 26256 female and 29152 male voters.
There are 13 candidates on these 3 seats. The main contest on all three seats is between Congress and BJP. Five candidates each are in the fray in Dehra and Nalagarh and three in Hamirpur. Everyone’s eyes are on the by-election of Dehra seat. Sukhwinder Sukhu’s wife Kamlesh Thakur is contesting from here. She will face BJP candidate Hoshiyaar Singh.
Kamlesh Thakur is originally from Naidun in Hamirpur district. But, Congress has made her a candidate from Dehra seat of Kangra district, because Kamlesh Thakur’s maternal home is in Jaswan-Paragpur adjoining Dehra.
Men voted more in the first 2 hours than women.
There are 13 candidates on these 3 seats. The main contest on all three seats is between Congress and BJP. Five candidates each are in the fray in Dehra and Nalagarh and three in Hamirpur.
Everyone’s eyes are on the by-election of Dehra seat. Sukhwinder Sukhu’s wife Kamlesh Thakur is contesting from here. She will face BJP candidate Hoshiyaar Singh.
Kamlesh Thakur is originally from Naidun in Hamirpur district. But, Congress has made her a candidate from Dehra seat of Kangra district, because Kamlesh Thakur’s maternal home is in Jaswan-Paragpur adjoining Dehra.
Polling for three Assembly constituencies—Dehra, Nalagarh and Hamirpur—began on Wednesday across 315 polling stations, with 13 candidates in the fray for the bypoll.
A total of 2.59 lakh electorates will cast votes till 6 p.m. The polling is being conducted to fill vacancies created by the resignation of incumbent members. The ballots will be counted on July 13.
In a straight contest between traditional arch-rivals, the Congress and the BJP, the stakes are high for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu with his wife Kamlesh Thakur making her electoral debut from Dehra in Kangra district.
The Chief Minister campaigned aggressively in Dehra, compared to two other seats, to ensure victory for Kamlesh Thakur, who is in the fray against BJP nominee Hoshiyar Singh, who won the seat as an Independent candidate in 2022 for the second consecutive time. In 2012, Ravinder Singh Ravi of the BJP was elected from Dehra.
To woo the electorate, Sukhu said during the campaigning, “Dehra will technically get a CM (Chief Minister) if they elect his wife.” The main opposition BJP, which has won all four seats in the just concluded parliamentary elections, has fielded K.L. Thakur from Nalagarh and Ashish Sharma from Hamirpur, where they will be pitted against Congress’ Hardeep Bawa and Pushpendra Verma, respectively.