Himachal elections 2022: 30,000 security personnel deployed for peaceful voting

Shimla, Nov 12: To ensure peaceful voting process as Himachal Pradesh begins the election process on Saturday, about 30,000 security personnel including 67 companies of Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed in the state.

According to an ANI report, 30,000 security personnel including 67 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and over 11,500 state police personnel have been deployed.

Besides, 50,000 government employees are on duty in the hill state that has 7881 polling stations of which 981 are critical and 901 have been categorised as vulnerable.

In the state, 55,92,828 electors are eligible to vote in the polls, which includes 67,559 service electors and 22 NRIs.

Of the total eligible voters, 27,37,845 are female, 28,54,945 are male and 38 belong to the third gender. Around 1.93 lakh voters are between 18-19 years of age.

For the Himachal polls, 412 candidates across parties are contesting.

Among the candidates, chief minister Jairam Thakur, leader Mukesh Agnihotri, chairman of Congress Campaign Committee Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and several other prominent leaders are there.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is hoping to return to power with development as their main issue, while Congress is urging voters to vote on anti-incumbency in Himachal Pradesh assembly elections which is underway right now.

For the polls, the holiday has been declared for government employees, boards, corporations, educational institutions and industrial establishments in Himachal Pradesh.

After voting today, the counting of votes will take place on December 8.