Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur arrived at the polling booth to caste his vote. The people of Himachal Pradesh are casting their votes today to elect a new government in the state. The voting has commenced and will end at 5pm, with 7,884 polling stations spread across Himachal Pradesh. Of these, 7,235 stations are in rural regions while 646 are in urban pockets of the northern state. Additionally, as many as three auxiliary polling stations have been set up in far flung areas of the hill state by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
An official said that 140 polling stations in Lahaul and Spiti districts along with Chamba and Kinnaur are snowbound. There was fresh snowfall in the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh on Friday. Multiple security forces have been deployed in the state for today's elections, including 67 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and 25,000 state police officers. Teams from the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) comprising 800 personnel have been posted as well.