15.71% voter turnout recorded in Himachal Pradesh until today 9 a.m.

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], July 10 (ANI): An average voter turnout of 15.96 per cent has been recorded today during the by-elections for three seats in Himachal Pradesh, as per the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Hamirpur recorded a turnout of 15.71 per cent, Nalagarh recorded a turnout of 16.48 per cent and Dehra recorded a turnout of 15.70 per cent.

The by-elections for Harmipur, Dehra and Nalagarh assembly elections are all being held today. The BJP has fielded Hoshiyar Singh from the Dehra Assembly seat, Ashish Sharma from Harmipur and KL Thakur from Nahalgarh for the upcoming by-elections.

Congress on the other hand has fielded Pushpendra Verma and Hardeep Singh Bawa as its candidates from the Harmipur and Nalagarh assembly constituencies. Kamlesh Thakur the wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu is the Congress candidate from Dehra.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu appealed to the people to come out in large numbers and exercise their franchise “The people of Dehra, Nalagarh and Hamirpur are requested to vote in maximum numbers in today’s by-election.”

The BJP is confident of a good showing in the by-elections and has accused the Congress of failing the people.

“This is the first time that a government in the state has lost its popularity so quickly. This government has failed on every front. They cheated farmers, youth and gardeners, ignored issues of public interest, insulted the elected representatives and acted with dictatorship and vengeance. During the tenure of one and a half years, the development of the state was completely stalled. Instead of opening new institutions, the existing situations were closed,” said former CM and BJP leader Jairam Thakur.

Earlier on July 9, a total of 217 parties were dispatched to their respective polling stations in preparation for the upcoming by-elections in the three assembly constituencies of the state.

The spokesperson of the Election Department said that a total of 315 polling stations have been set up for the by-elections to be held in Dehra, Harmipur and Nalagarh Assembly Constituencies. (ANI)