New Delhi, November 12: As part of its firm commitment towards gender equality and constructive participation of women in the electoral process, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said that as many as 157 polling stations across the State are being managed solely by women staff.

Addressing a press conference, CEC Kumar said, "157 polling stations across the state are such that are being managed solely by women staff. In Hamirpur district, a creche facility has also been made available so that those who come with children don't have to face any issues." Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022: 17.98% Voter Turnout Recorded Till 11 AM in Vidhan Sabha Polls.

He further said that there are 56,000 Persons with Disabilities(PwD) voters in Himachal. "We have made a lot of arrangements for them. 37 polling stations are being managed solely by PWD staff. This is a tool of their employment which we wanted to display," the CEC said. Kumar further hailed the elderly voters of the state.

"I salute 1.2 lakh voters in the state who are above 80 years of age. Drawing inspiration from them, youth gets the opportunity to go ahead. We pay tribute to the late Shyam Saran Negi, it will be a fitting tribute to him to cast votes in large numbers," he added.

Notably, the state has recorded only a 37.19 per cent voter turnout till 1 pm. Voters across the state queued up outside polling booths on Saturday to elect a new state government. There are 55,92,828 electors who can cast their votes till 5 pm today will decide the fate of 412 candidates who are in the fray. Out of the total number of electorates, 27,37,845 are women, 28,54,945 men and 38 third-gender. This time, the representation of woman candidates is 24. ‘One Nation, One Election’ Is for Legislature To Decide, Says Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.

According to the Election Commission, a total of 7,881 polling stations have been set up for today's polls. The Kangra district has a maximum of 1,625 polling stations while the Lahaul-Spiti district has the lowest 92. There are 7,235 polling stations in rural and 646 polling stations in urban areas. Besides, three auxiliary polling stations have also been set up at Sidhbari (Dharamshala), Bara Bhangal (Baijnath) and Dhillon (Kasauli).

The fight is in between the ruling BJP in the state which is looking to retain power 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 is contesting on all 68 seats.

The key contests include Seraj where Chief Minister Jairam Thakur is contesting against Congress' Chetram Thakur and AAP candidate Gita Nand Thakur. Mahinder Rana is the CPI-M candidate.

Congress has fielded Vikramaditya Singh, son of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh from Shimla Rural against BJP's Ravi Mehta and AAP's Prem Thakur. Shimla Assembly constituency is set to witness a close fight between BJP, AAP, Congress and CPIM.

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.

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