Himachal Pradesh, the Indian State in the foothills of the Himalayas, is voting today to elect a new Assembly today.

The State, which is ruled presently by veteran Congress leader and chief-minister Virbhadra Singh, is voting today and is among the very few States in the country where 50% of the electorate are below 40-years of age. Congress is locked in a tough contest with the BJP which is aiming to upset the ruling party’s calculations.

337 candidates are in fray in the 68 Assembly constituencies in the State where polling is held in a single phase today. 62 candidates are the sitting MLAs in the present Assembly. Fate of chief-minister Virbhadra Singh, 10 Ministers, deputy speaker Jagat Singh Negi, BJP’s former chief-minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and 12 former Ministers would be decided today.

Intense election campaign which took place during the fortnight ended on Tuesday. The BJP is making a serious bid to replace the Congress Govt. in the State.  19 women candidates (6 from the BJP and 3 from the Congress) are also in the fray. In the present Assembly, Congress has 35 MLAs while the BJP has 28 MLAs. There are four independent MLAs with one seat remaining vacant.

50,25,941 people are expected to cast their votes in the 7,525 polling booths set up across the State. More than 37,600 polling officials would be on duty. Web-camera facility has been set up in 2307 polling booths identified as ‘sensitive’. Counting of votes would be taken up on 18th December, thus making both the Congress and the BJP wait for an uneasy five weeks.