Brisk voting in Himachal by-elections

Shimla, Nov 7 : Brisk voting was reported Saturday in the two Himachal Pradesh assembly constituencies of Jawali and Rohru, an election official said.

Till 1 p.m., around 35 percent of the 145,957 electorate in the two constituencies had voted. The state's chief electoral officer Anil Khachi told IANS that the voter turnout was "good".

The main contest is between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

While the Rohru seat in Shimla district fell vacant after five-time former chief minister Virbhadra Singh (Congress) was elected to the Lok Sabha, the by-election in Jawali in Kangra district was necessitated when Rajan Sushant of the BJP won the Lok Sabha election.

The Congress has fielded former minister Sujan Singh Pathania against BJP's Baldev Raj Chaudhary in Jawali. BJP rebel Madan Sharma is also in the fray in Jawali as an independent.

From Rohru, the BJP has pitted Khushi Ram Balnatah against Manjit Singh of the Congress.

The BJP had fared well in the May general elections, winning three of the four Lok Sabha seats in the state.

--IANS