Himachal Pradesh elections 2022 Polling Updates: Tight security arrangements are in place with just hours to go before voting begins for Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections at 8 AM on Saturday. A total of 55,74,793 voters of Himachal Pradesh will exercise their franchise to elect a new government from a pool of 412 candidates for the 68 Assembly seats.
Voting will begin at 8 AM tomorrow and continue till 5 PM in a state where no incumbent government has returned to power for a second consecutive term since 1982. For the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the challenge will be to buck anti-incumbency and overturn the four-decade convention while the Congress is banking on voters to go with the trend.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, while announcing the poll schedule, said that around 56 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise for 68-assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh. There are 1.86 lakh first-time voters, 1.22 lakh aged 80-plus, and 1,184 voters who are above 100 years of age, he said.
Also Read: Himachal Pradesh Elections 2022: 10 seats to watch out for in high-stakes poll
A total number of 7,881 polling stations have been set up for election day, a 4.73 per cent rise from the 2017 elections.
Voters need to carry their Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) and present it at the polling station or carry any one identification document along with Photo Voter Slips. The documents that are accepted by the Election Commission are Aadhaar Card, MNREGA job card, bank passbooks, health insurance smart card, driving license, Indian passport, pension document with photograph, service identity cards with photographs issued to employees by central/state/PSUs/Public Limited Companies, Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs, or Unique Disability ID (UDID) card.
In the 2017 Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, the BJP had won a clear majority bagging 44 seats, while the Congress managed to win 21 seats, the Independents secured two seats, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) emerged victorious in one seat.
The term of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly ends on January 8, 2023. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.
