New Delhi: As Himachal Pradesh goes to polls today Prime Minister Modi has appealed to people to vote in record numbers and take part in the 'festival of democracy'. He also extended his best wishes to first-time voters.
More than 55 lakh voters in the hill state will decide the fate of 412 candidates, including Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, former CM Virbhadhra Singh's son Vikramaditya Singh and former BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti, in the elections in 68 constituencies across the state.
Voting will be held in 68 assembly seats of Himachal Pradesh today. Special care has been taken to ensure the smooth conduct of the voting process. The state government has declared a public holiday today of polling for employees of government offices, boards, corporations, educational institutions and industrial establishments in Himachal Pradesh.
The high-voltage campaigning by political parties had ended on November 10, following which it's up to the electorate of Himachal Pradesh to decide the political fate of the candidates.
According to the Election Commission, this time there are 55,92,828 voters in Himachal. Out of the total eligible voters, 27,37,845 are women, 28,54,945 are men and 38 are third gender voters. 1.93 lakh voters are in the age group of 18-19 years. There are mainly three parties in the fray in the state elections - BJP, Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party.