CHANDIGARH: In the Himachal assembly elections due November 12, the polling staff on duty for 200 polling booths in the state will have to trek miles through mountains to get to these booths. The staff will be given waterproof bags to secure EVMs and VVPAT machines.
As many as 65 polling stations are located in remote parts at an altitude of more than 10,000 feet. Another 20 booths are located at a height of more than 12,000 feet. Most of these polling stations are in Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur, Chamba, Kangra and Kullu. Reaching there is a tough task for the polling staff. To reach some booths, officials will have to walk around 20 km.
The remotest village in Kangra district, Bara Bhangal, has only 470 votes. In the 2019 election, the polling team walked for three days covering 40 km to reach the polling station. Another such polling station is at Tashigang in Lahaul and Spiti which has only 52 votes and is one of the highest polling stations that mostly remains snow-covered.
It recorded 100% polling in the by-election last year despite freezing cold. This will be the first assembly election for this polling booth in which voters of Tashigang and Gete villages in Lahaul-Spiti will vote. Thus it is a model polling booth, where officials on duty will wear traditional attire. The temperatures there have already started dropping below the freezing point.
Another booth in Hikkim village located at over 12,000 feet has only 213 voters. It remained the highest polling station in the country before the Tashigang polling booth was set up for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and was connected by a road.
“If the poll staff doesn’t find a motorable road, then the team has to walk to get to the polling booth. There are 200 such polling booths in the state. The poll teams will have to walk for around at least 3km with EVMs and VVPAT machines,” state Chief Electoral Officer Maneesh Garg told this paper.
