Brisk balloting in Himachal

Shimla, May 7 (IANS) Brisk balloting was taking place in Himachal Pradesh Wednesday for its four Lok Sabha seats and in the by-poll for one assembly seat, officials said.

As many as 38 candidates are in the fray for the parliamentary election from Kangra, Mandi, Hamirpur and Shimla constituencies.

"The voter turnout was around 17 percent by 9 a.m.," state Chief Electoral Officer Narinder Chauhan told IANS here.

Voting began at 7 a.m. at most polling stations and there was no report of any electronic voting machines (EVMs) malfunction, he said.

Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, former chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Prem Kumar Dhumal and union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma were among the early voters.

State's oldest voter, Shyam Saran Negi, 97, and his wife Hira Mani also exercised their franchise in a picturesque hamlet in Kinnaur district.

The main contenders include Shanta Kumar of the BJP in Kangra and Congress candidate Pratibha Singh from Mandi. Incumbent BJP MPs from Hamirpur and Shimla, Anurag Singh Thakur and Virender Kashyap, are re-contesting from their respective constituencies.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, the BJP bagged three seats, while Congress leader Virbhadra Singh won the Mandi seat.

Virbhadra Singh surrendered his seat in 2012 when he became the chief minister and his wife Pratibha Singh was elected as an MP in the by-poll.

Polling is being held at 7,382 polling stations. Over 4.8 million electors are eligible to vote.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the state saw 58.43 percent polling while the 2012 assembly polls, the state saw a record turnout of 73.51 percent.