Voting is all set to take place on all the 68 Assembly seats of the state, the majority of which (44) had come in the BJP's bag in the 2017 Assembly polls, with Congress being restricted to just 21 seats. This will be decided today by the more than 55 lakh voters who will decide the fate of 412 candidates, including Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, former CM Virbhadhra Singh's son Vikramaditya Singh, in the elections in 68 constituencies across the state.
About 30,000 security personnel including 67 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and over 11,500 state police personnel will be deployed for peaceful conduct of polling in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday. Polling for 68 Assembly segments would be held in a single phase. About 50,000 government employees are on poll duty. Of the 7881 polling stations, 981 are critical and 901 have been categorised as vulnerable. According to the Election Commission, a total of 55,92,828 electors of which 27,37,845 are women, 28,54,945 men and 38 were third-gender, will decide the faith of 412 candidates. This time, the representation of woman candidates is 24.