Shimla: Bhoranj by-poll sees 63.3 per cent voter turnout

State Chief Electoral Officer Narinder Chauhan said polling was peaceful as no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the constituency. There were a total of 99 polling booths, which witnessed a fairly good turnout despite being a bypoll. This perhaps was the result of good mobilisation by political parties and candidates, besides polling officials, he believed.

Barring a few incidents at a dozen booths, where EVMs did not work initially for half an hour and voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) had some problems, there was no complaint related to polling. It’s the first time at Bhoranj that the EC introduced VVPAT on pilot basis.

“All the EVMs and VVPAT will be kept in the strongroom at Bhoranj. Sufficent security precautions have been taken by the local administration for safety, etc. Counting will be held on April 13,” said Chauhan.

Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner Madan Chauhan said booth 6 at Bhuna reported the highest turnout of 88.24 per cent while booth 89 at Bhakera had the lowest turnout of 53.59 per cent.

The by-election was caused by the demise of Ishwar Dass Dhiman, a two-time education minister in the BJP government, who had been elected from Bhoranj for six consecutive times since 1990. Thus, the stakes are very high for the BJP, particularly former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, whose village, Samirpur, also falls in the constituency. Dhumal, his wife and family members, including Anurag Thakur, BJP MP of Hamirpur, were among the first few voters to vote.

While the BJP has fielded Dr Anil Dhiman, a medical professional, who resigned to step into his father’s shoes, Congress has pitted Promila, a Dalit. A total of five candidates, including three Independents, are in the fray. In all, there are 75,719 voters, including 38,205 women and 37,514 men.