Dehradun: The battle for Uttarakhand with polling in 70 Assembly constituencies spread across 13 districts began at 8 am. Uttarakhand assembly elections will throw interesting results as the hill state has seen three chief ministers since March 2021 and overall 11 chief ministers in the two decades since the formation of the state.
Electioneering which was carried out aggressively by the political parties through virtual as well as physical rallies and door-to-door campaigns in the state came to an end on Saturday evening. The counting of the votes will be on March 10. There are a total of 81,72,173 voters in the state and 11,697 polling booths spread over 8,624 locations, according to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Saujanya, who does not use a surname.
For the first time, 101 all-women polling booths named 'Sakhi' polling booths have been set up in the state. All polling officials at these booths will be women, the CEO said, adding this has been done to encourage women's participation in the polling process. Similarly, six polling booths to be manned by persons with disabilities have also been set up, she said. The presiding officers and polling personnel at such booths will be differently-abled.
In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP won 57 seats out of 70. The BJP is trying to reverse the trend that the government changes every five years in Uttarakhand by winning two successive polls. It will be the fifth assembly election to be held in Uttarakhand after its creation in 2000. The government has also declared a holiday today to ensure all are able to cast their vote.
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