Polling for Mandi Lok Sabha by-election underway in Himachal

Polling for the parliamentary constituency of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh is taking place under full security arrangements here today.

The voting, which began at 8 a.m., will end at 5 p.m.

However, votes in Kinnaur district, part of the constituency, has been postponed till Thursday following recent heavy rain and untimely snowfall. The vote count will be held simultaneously on June 30.

A total of 11,24,786 voters will decide the fate of four candidates, including two independents.

The Congress has pitted Pratibha Singh, former MP and wife of six-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, against BJP”s former minister and sitting legislator Jai Ram Thakur.

The by-poll was necessitated after Virbhadra Singh was elected to the state assembly in December 2012. (ANI)