About 60 per cent polling in Hamirpur bypolls

Hamirpur, Jun 2 (UNI) About 60 per cent polling has been recorded in the Hamirpur Lok Sabha parliamentary constituency, which went to the polls today, with women outnumbering men in exercising their right to franchise.

The polling, which began at a brisk note in the morning, slowed down in the afternoon with the maximum temperatures soaring to above 35 degrees before catching up in the last three hours.

About fifty-five per cent polling had been recorded in the district by 1600 hrs, according to the official control room set up by the district administration.

Women again outnumbered men in the polling and were seen queuing up in large numbers at the polling stations across the constituency.

Hamirpur Deputy Commission Rajneesh Kumar said polling was peaceful by and large and there was no report of any untoward incident or violence from any part of the constituency.

He said polling was likely to cross sixty per cent with reports from other parts of the constituency yet to reach the district headquarter.

Earlier, polling began at a brisk note for the parliamentary seat with long queues being witnessed in the polling stations across the constituency Polling was held up at five booths of Panasai, Badaran, Bara and Nadaun and Hamirpur due to non-functional electronic voting machines (EVMs), but polling soon began after the faulty EVMs were replaced.

Long queues are being witnessed in the polling stations across the constituency with women outnumbering men in casting their votes.

Though six candidates are in fray for the elections, the main contest is between former chief minister and BJP's candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal and state Forest Minister and Congress candidate Ram Lal Thakur.

Of the 1,372 booths set up in the state, 293 were declared sensitive and 163 hyper-sensitive and over 3,000 police and home guard personnel were deployed in the constituency to ensure free and fair polling.

The administration had issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC in the constituency and Quick Response Teams and Striking Units under the control of DSP rank officers have been formed to prevent any untoward incident during the polling.

UNI