Polling begins for Hamirpur parliamentary

Hamirpur, Jun 2 (UNI) Polling began at a brisk note for the Hamirpur parliamentary seat in Himachal Pradesh with almost five to eight per cent people exercising their right to franchise in the first ninety minutes, official sources said.

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.

In all, 11.75 lakh voters would exercise their right to franchise in today's polling in 1,372 polling booths spread across four districts of Hamirpur, Una, Bilaspur and Dehra revenue sub division of Kangra district.

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

The administration has 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