Shimla – The Himachal Pradesh Assembly bye-elections saw an mixed voter turnout, with the Nalagarh Assembly Constituency leading the way by recording nearly 78 percent participation. As per the information received by 6 PM, Hamirpur saw 67.7 percent voter turnout, while approximately 65.42 percent of voters cast their votes in the Dehra Assembly Constituency.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Maneesh Garg shared that about 70.5 percent of voters participated in the bye-elections for the Dehra, Hamirpur, and Nalagarh constituencies. Polling began early in the morning, with voter turnout at 15.99 percent by 11 AM, rising to 48.52 percent by 1 PM, and reaching 58.88 percent by 3 PM.
By 6 PM, Nalagarh registered the highest voter turnout at nearly 78 percent, followed by Hamirpur at 67.7 percent and Dehra at approximately 65.42 percent. Garg mentioned that the final voting percentages will be released after the return of all polling parties and the scrutiny of documents.
Garg highlighted that 1,523 voters above 85 years of age and 348 Persons with Disabilities (PwD) utilized the home voting facility. He also noted that the State Election Department, under the guidance of the Election Commission of India (ECI), ensured elaborate security arrangements, resulting in a peaceful polling process without any untoward incidents.
A total of 13 candidates contested the bye-elections across the three constituencies, including two women candidates. Dehra and Nalagarh each had five candidates, while Hamirpur had three candidates in the fray.
For real-time monitoring, 315 polling stations were covered through live webcasting, which was continuously observed through control rooms established at the state, district, and constituency levels. Additionally, six polling stations were managed by women, one by PwDs, and three by youth. Garg also informed that nine model and six green polling stations were set up across the three constituencies.
Since the announcement of the polling on June 10, 2024, and the implementation of the model code of conduct (MCC) in Dehra, Nalagarh, and Hamirpur, joint actions by the enforcement agencies of the Police, Income Tax, State Tax, and Excise and Industry departments led to seizures worth about 3.4 crore.
