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Voting for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections is underway at the 68 constituencies across the state.
Voters across Himachal Pradesh queued up outside polling booths on Saturday to elect a new state government that will work for the development of the state. The election is in between the ruling BJP in the state which is looking to retain power ditching the trend of the alternate party coming to power every five years since 1982, and Congress which is banking on its '10 guarantees' that the party listed out in its manifesto to take them home. Aam Aadmi Party is in line looking to leave a mark in the state and thus contesting on all the 68 seats alone. Speaking to ANI, a voter said, "Voting should be taken more as a responsibility; today's generation takes it very lightly. There should be more progress and more facilities should be given in rural areas." A first-time voter, Ankita said that she exercised her franchise for the development of the State. "I am a first-time voter; feel very excited. I have voted for development," said Ankita. An old lady who came to cast her vote said that she will vote for the BJP as they have done lots of work for the people of the hill state. "I am voting for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is working so much for the people of the state like no one has been able to do. Neither the Congress nor any other party has done so far. The new BJP government has worked a lot for the people. The works which were not done till date after independence was done by the Modi government," said Shakti. Another voter said that he wants a government that will work for the development of the state and will focus on health, education, roads and other issues. "We want a good government who will work for the people of the state," said another voter. The polling will continue till 5 pm in all 68 assembly constituencies. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and his family members cast their votes for the Assembly elections at polling station 44 in Mandi on Saturday. "Confident of a grand win. Feedback is great. Most importantly, people are casting their votes peacefully," he said. Himachal Pradesh state Congress president Pratibha Singh, along with her son and party MLA Vikramaditya Singh also cast their votes in Rampur, Shimla. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged them to enthusiastically participate in the "festival of democracy" and register a voting record. The counting of votes will be done on December 8. In 2017, BJP swept the Himachal polls, bagging 44 of the total 68 seats while Congress managed to get just 21 seats. (ANI)
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