Page 11 - Himachal Pradesh

EC puts in place multi-layered monitoring mechanism for Assembly polls

The Commission visited Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in Sept for reviewing electoral preparedness and dedicated teams also visited various regions of the two states in October to oversee preparations

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Himachal Pradesh records 65.92% turnout till 5 pm: EC provisional data

Himachal Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 65.92 per cent till 5 pm on Saturday, the Election Commission said, citing provisional polling figures for the state where the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress are locked in an aggressive fight. Voting began at 8 am on a slow note but picked up as the day progressed and the sun warmed the winter chill. The assembly election is a crucial test for the BJP which is hoping to beat precedent and return to power while the Congress has urged voters to go by tradition of voting out the incumbent. Only around five per cent polling was recorded in the first hour, while till 11 am, it was 19.98 per cent. It notched up to 37.19 per cent by 1 pm and 55.65 per cent till 3 pm. Till 5 pm, a 65.92 per cent turnout was recorded, the Election Commission (EC) said. The highest polling of 72.35 per cent was recorded in Sirmour district followed by 68.48 per cent in Solan and 67.67 per cent in Una and 67.5 per cent in Lahaul and Spiti. The high-altitud

Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls: 55.65% voter turnout recorded till 3 pm

Himachal Pradesh, where the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress are locked in an aggressive fight, recorded a voter turnout of 55.65 per cent in the first five hours of polling till 3 pm on Saturday, the Election Commission said. Voting began at 8 am on a slow note but picked up as the day progressed and the sun warmed the winter chill. The assembly election is a crucial test for the BJP which is hoping to beat precedent and return to power while the Congress has urged voters to go by tradition of voting out the incumbent. Only around five per cent polling was recorded in the first hour, while till 11 am, it was 19.98 per cent. It notched up to 37.19 percent by 1 pm and till 3 pm, the state recorded a 55.65 per cent turnout. The highest polling of 62.75 per cent was recorded in Lahaul and Spiti district, followed by 60.38 per cent in Sirmour and 58.9 per cent in Mandi, the home district of Chief Minister Jairam Thakur. The high-altitude district of Lahaul and Spiti had recorded

HP elections: 157 polling stations solely being managed by women staff

157 polling stations across the state are such that are being managed solely by women staff: EC

Himachal Assembly polls: BJP President JP Nadda casts vote in Bilaspur

'With the kind of atmosphere I'm seeing since morning, I think people have zeal and that zeal is over something right. I request people to cast vote in large numbers'

17.98% voting recorded in Himachal polls till 11 am: Election Commission

Himachal Pradesh, where the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress are locked in an aggressive direct fight, recorded a voter turnout of 17.98 per cent in the first three hours till 11 am on Saturday, Election Commission said. The voting commenced on a tardy note and gradually picked up pace in a state where the BJP is eyeing history by repeating its government, while the Congress is urging voters to go by the tradition of voting out the incumbent government. The voting started on a slow note with only around 5 per cent polling recorded in the first hour. Till 11 am, the highest polling of 21.92 per cent was recorded in Mandi, the home district of Chief Minister Jairam Thakur. Sirmour district recorded 21.66 per cent polling, Solan 20.28 and Kinnaur 20 per cent, according to the EC. Lahaul and Spiti district recorded the lowest polling of 5 per cent in the first three hours. Top leaders, including Chief Minister Thakur, voted in Mandi along with his wife and daughters after offeri

HP polls: Confident of winning 40-45 seats, says Cong chief Pratibha Singh

After casting her vote at Rampur in Shimla in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls, Congress MP and state chief Pratibha Singh on Saturday appealed to vote for development and work while exuding confidence of winning 40-45 seats in 68 members Assembly."We'd like to tell people of Himachal Pradesh to vote for development & work. Congress always worked for development & in the time to come only Congress can take that work forward in the state. We're confident of winning 40-45 seats," Pratibha Singh said.Pratibha Singh and party MLA Vikramaditya on Saturday cast their vote at Rampur in Shimla in the assembly polls.Vikramaditya who is a son of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, and also a sitting MLA from Shimla Rural was entrusted by the Congress once again and given a ticket against BJP's Ravi Mehta, AAP's Prem Thakur."We would like to request the people to take Himachal forward and cast their votes in public interest, in the interest of Himachal Pradesh - to make it the .

Himachal Pradesh polls: PM Modi urges voters to turn up in large numbers

'I request all the voters of Devbhoomi to participate with full enthusiasm in this festival of democracy and create a new record of voting'

Voting begins in HP as BJP eyes return to power, Cong battles for change

Voters across Himachal Pradesh queued up outside polling booths on Saturday to elect a new state government, a crucial test for the BJP hoping to beat precedent and return to power as well as for the Congress looking for electoral revival. Voting began at 8 am on a slow note in the hill state but began to pick up as the morning progressed and the winter chill eased a bit. The polling will continue till 5 pm in all 68 assembly constituencies. In an early morning message to voters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged them to enthusiastically participate in the "festival of democracy" and register a voting record. In a tweet, Modi also greeted the young voters who will be exercising their franchise for the first time. Chief Minister Jairam Thakur echoed him and said every vote will help build a prosperous Himachal Pradesh. "First vote, then refreshments. Dear fellow state residents, today is the day of voting. My humble request to all voters of Himachal Pradesh is to participate in th

Nearly 30,000 security personnel deployed to ensure free, fair polls in HP

Polling for 68 Assembly segments would be held in a single phase today

BJP, Congress fight it out as Himachal Pradesh all set to vote on Saturday

Rebels could spoil the party for several official candidates

Despite AAP's presence, Himachal's political battle between BJP, Congress

AAP, which is in the fray for the first time in the Assembly polls, has been missing from the state with its leaders focusing on strengthening its vote bank in another poll-bound Gujarat.

Old pension scheme back in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, HP's turn now: Rahul

'Congress will restore old faith to the senior citizens of Himachal Pradesh. OPS was restored in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand. Now it's Himachal's turn'

Double-engine govt necessary for development of Himachal: Anurag Thakur

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday said a "double-engine" government is necessary in Himachal Pradesh to ensure faster development of the hill state. Addressing rallies on the last day of campaigning for the November 12 Assembly polls, Thakur said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments at the Centre and in Himachal Pradesh have ensured all-round development of the state. "Double engine" is a term often used by BJP leaders to refer to the party ruling at the Centre and in a state. "Projects delayed for years were not only started but also completed," Thakur said, addressing rallies in Shimla Rural, Kasauli, Sujanpur and Hamirpur. Polling for the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to be held on Saturday. The BJP is locked in a tough fight with the Congress to retain power in the state. Thakur hit out at the Congress and accused the opposition party of putting up hurdles in the way of development projects in the state. "In 2003,

Don't waste your vote on Congress: Adityanath appeals to Himachal people

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Thursday appealed to Himachal Pradesh people not to "waste" their vote on the Congress, alleging had they been in power at Centre, India's borders would not have been secure and neither Article 370 scrapped nor Ram temple built in Ayodhya. The country would have missed the efficient management of the Covid crisis by the Narendra Modi government and crores of Indians would not have received free vaccines, he claimed at poll rallies in Kullu, Mandi and Una districts on the last day of campaigning. The Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP in Himachal Pradesh which goes to the polls on November 12. "Would the 'Har Ghar Nal' scheme be implemented in Himachal Pradesh? Would Congress be able to give free vaccines and free rations during Covid?... When the Congress could not do all this and neither take care of your health nor give good institutes of learning or set up AIIMS or IIT here... why waste votes on Congress," he ...

Multiple CM faces our strength, not weakness: Congress President Kharge

The presence of several chief ministerial faces in Himachal Pradesh is not the Congress' weakness but its strength, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Thursday as the campaign for assembly elections in the hill state drew to a close. The ruling BJP, in contrast, is going into elections banking just on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's face because it is "aware of the failures of the chief minister (Jairam Thakur) and the state government", Kharge, who is overseeing his first elections after assuming charge as Congress president last month, said. "The PM is saying don't look at the candidate, vote for me. This attitude belittles the people of Himachal Pradesh. They know the prime minister will not be there in the state after the voting ends," the Congress veteran told PTI in an interview, referring to Modi's campaign speeches. Confident that the Congress will wrest power from the BJP because the people were determined to bring in change, Kharge said his party is going into the .

Former Congress leader from Himachal joins BJP ahead of assembly election

Harpreet Singh Ratan joined BJP at the residence of the party's national president JP Nadda on Thursday

Old pension scheme emerges as key issue in Himachal Pradesh polls

As Satpal, 78, attends to customers, an animated discussion is on outside his grocery shop in Kasumpti Bazar. They are debating the old pension scheme, which has emerged as a key election issue. The Congress has promised to restore the old pension scheme (OPS), if voted to power in Himachal Pradesh after the November 12 assembly polls in the state. The OPS will benefit retired employees in a big way, feel most of the people in the group discussing the issue outside Satpal's shop named 'Himlaxmi'. But one person seems to differ, asking how the government will generate resources for it. There are about 2.5 lakh government employees in the state, and out of them 1.5 lakh are covered under the New Pension Scheme. There have been protests earlier by employees' associations against the new scheme in Shimla, Mandi, Kangra and Solan. The old pension scheme, under which the entire pension amount was given by the government, was discontinued in the country from April 1, 2004. According to t

BJP will return in Himachal with two-thirds majority: Sanjay Tandon

"There is a BJP wave in the state and people want to vote the double-engine government back. BJP has launched a campaign in the state with utmost sincerity with our top leaders leading from the front"