Indians cast their ballot at world’s highest polling booth

Indians participating in elections to choose the chief minister for the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh cast their ballot at the world’s highest polling station.

Of the 7,884 polling stations set up across the hilly state, one was set up  Tashigang in Lahaul and Spiti district. Situated at the height of 15,256 ft, it is the world’s highest polling station that has 52 registered voters.

“It has been made Model Polling station to make voting easy for senior citizens & disabled voters,” said the state’s chief electoral office in a tweet.

Himachal Pradesh, where prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party locked in an aggressive electoral battle with the opposing Congress party, is looking to choose its representatives for 68 legislative assembly seats from the 412 candidates contesting this year.

The results of the state elections are expected on 8 December.

While the ruling BJP under chief minister Jairam Thakur is looking to break the state’s tradition of government being voted out of power after a single term, the main opposition party is hoping to return, amidst its rapidly sliding electoral fortunes.

Though the voting began on a tardy note, the pace picked up as the sun came up, with about 37.19 per cent votes recorded in the first five hours, till 1pm.