Himachal Pradesh: Mandi Lok Sabha bypoll witnesses low voter turnout of 54 pc

The voter turnout in the by-elections of the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency of Himachal Pradesh was 54.20 per cent till 7 pm on Saturday.

Of the 17 Assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh where bypolls were held, as per the Election Commission, the Sundernagar assembly seat recorded 59.13 per cent voter turnout while 59.59 per cent turnout was recorded from the Rampur seat.

Mandi assembly seat witnessed a voter turnout of 55.05 per cent whereas the Manali, Kullu seat reported a 62.78 and 55.64 per cent turnout respectively.

The necessity to conduct a by-election for the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency and three assembly constituencies arose due to the deaths of sitting MP and MLAs on the respective seats.

The Mandi seat fell vacant after the death of Ramswaroop Sharma (BJP) in March.

As per the official release, there are six candidates from Mandi parliamentary constituency including Brigadier Kushal Chand Thakur of BJP, Pratibha Singh of Indian National Congress, Ambika Shyam of Rashtriya Lokniti Party, Munshi Ram Thakur of Himachal Jankranti Party and independent candidates Anil Kumar and Subhash Mohan Snehi.

However, BJP and Congress are in direct competition for the seat, with Pratibha Singh, wife of late chief minister Virbhadra Singh, pitted against BJP's Khushal Singh Thakur, a Kargil war hero.

Other than West Bengal, voting for three parliamentary seats and 26 other assembly constituencies in various states across the country took place on Saturday.

The results of these polls will be announced on November 2.

( With inputs from ANI )

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