Himachal Pradesh Assembly Election: CM Jairam Thakur urges voters to 'strengthen democracy'

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jairam Thakur on Saturday said he was confident that the people of the hill state would bring back the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the ongoing Assembly election. As the polling to elect the new Indian government in the state began, Thakur also urged the voters to cast their vote to "strengthen democracy".

"I am happy that the campaign completed in a good atmosphere. People of Himachal cooperated. I thank the people of Himachal for this. I urge all voters to cast their vote today so that we can further strengthen democracy," Thakur said.

"I'm confident that people want to repeat this govt. I have started receiving greeting wishes this morning. I received PM Modi's message a while ago, he gave me his blessings and best wishes," he added.

Jairam Thakur's wife Sadhana wished him success and hailed him for leading the election campaign in the state. "It's a very special day for us, as he (HP CM Jairam Thakur) campaigned across the state, being the CM. I pray to god to bless him with success, so our state reaches new heights. Himachal will change," she was quoted by ANI.

The Himachal Pradesh election will decide the fate of 412 candidates contesting the Assembly polls from 68 constituencies. The majority of the seats are held by the BJP, with the Congress restricted to 21.

Over 7,000 polling stations have been set up, the Election Commission said. A total of 28.5 lakh male voters, 27 lakh women voters, and 38 voters belonging to the third gender will exercise their franchise today. The votes will be counted on December 8.

In 2017, BJP swept the Himachal polls, bagging 44 of the total 68 seats while Congress managed to get just 21 seats.