Shimla: Assembly polling got off to a slow start on Wednesday in Himachal Pradesh's second and final phase of assembly elections for 65 seats on a chilly but sunny morning.
Less than 10 percent of the electorate had cast their votes in the first two hours since polling began at 8 am, officials said. But polling is expected to pick up by noon when the day warms up.
Election officials appeared to be relaxed as the weather cleared on Wednesday morning and hoped it would remain like this for the rest of the day.
In the first phase, polling has already taken place for three tribal seats of Bharmaur, Lahaul and Spiti, and Kinnaur.
The state has a population of 6.3 million and a house of 68 legislators. The main battle is between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
According to the Chief Electoral Officer Manisha Nanda, 4.4 million voters are eligible to cast their ballot Wednesday. There are 324 candidates in the fray.
The notable political heavy weights contesting are Virbhadra Singh of the Congress from Rohru and Prem Kumar Dhumal of the BJP from Bamsan.
While the Congress is highlighting the development work it has carried out in the last five years, the BJP is attacking its arch-rival with issues of alleged corruption, price rise and growing unemployment.
Polling staff and material have been airlifted to snow bound areas of Dodra Kwar and Bara Banghal among others as these places are cut off from the rest of the country by road due to heavy snowfall.
According to Nanda, there are 5,934 polling stations for 65 assembly segments and the counting will start on December 28.
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