Shimla, October 21: About 24 per cent polling was recorded till 11.30 am for the two Assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh, a state election official said.
The voting began at 8 am on Monday at a slow pace which is likely to pick up during the day. The electors might use their right to franchise till 5 pm, he added.Long queues are being seen at some of the polling stations.
As many as 82,137 and 74,487 voters are eligible to exercise their right to franchise in Dharamsala and Pachhad respectively, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Rupali Thakur said.
The counting will be held on October 24.
A total of 202 polling stations have been set up for two seats. There are 113 polling stations in Pachhad and 89 in Dharamsala.
An auxiliary polling station had been set up at the Dari old-age home to facilitate 24 elderly inmates to cast their vote in Dharamsala, Thakur said.
Thirteen polling stations in Pachhad and 10 in Dharamsala had been identified as vulnerable, Thakur said, adding that four polling stations in Dharamsala are critical.
While seven candidates are in fray from Dharamsala, five are trying their luck from Pachhad.
In Dharamsala, direct contest is expected between Vishal Nehriya of the BJP and Vijay Inder Karan of the Congress. Both are contesting election for the first time.
On the other hand, a triangular contest is expected on the Pachhad (SC) constituency among Reena Kashyap of the BJP, Gangu Ram Musafir of the Congress and Dayal Pyari, a BJP rebel contesting as Independent.
By-elections to Pachhad and Dharamsala Assembly seats were necessitated after sitting BJP MLAs Suresh Kashyap and Kishan Kapoor, respectively, were elected to the Lok Sabha this May. PTI
