57.7% polling in Mandi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 30

The polling for the byelections to the Mandi Lok Sabha and three Assembly seats of Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai today was peaceful with a heavy turnout in the apple heartland of Jubbal-Kotkhai at almost 79 per cent.

As compared to the polling in the three Assembly seats, there was relatively low polling of 57.73 per cent for the Mandi parliamentary seat, comprising 17 Assembly segments. While there was 67.67 per cent turnout in Seraj, the Assembly segment of the CM in Mandi, the polling was moderate at 58 per cent in Rampur, the home town of Congress candidate Pratibha Singh.

The outcome of the bypolls holds great significance for Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and at the same time it will decide political fate of Pratibha Singh, who contested the polls for the first time without the support of her late husband Virbhadra Singh. Voting, which was sluggish in the morning, picked up in the afternoon. The overall polling in the 17 segments of the Mandi constituency was 57.7%, with the lowest turnout being at 46.72% in Sarkagaht. The polling was 66.20% in Fatehpur, 64.97% in Arki and 78.69% in Jubbal-Kotkhai. Three Kinnaur panchayats boycotted the poll in protest against the upcoming Jangi Thopan Hydel Project.