Shimla, May 17 (PTI) Polling for 51 urban local bodies including the four Municipal Corporations of Dharamshala, Solan, Mandi, and Palampur, began on Sunday, officials said.
Long queues of voters, with a heavy turnout of women, were seen outside polling booths ahead of voting, which commenced at 7 am.
Polling for 64 wards in the four Municipal Corporations, 229 wards in 25 Municipal Councils, and 156 wards in 22 Nagar Panchayats began simultaneously in a single phase on Sunday.
The counting of votes for Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats will take place soon after polling ends, while counting for the four Municipal Corporations where — elections are being contested on party lines — will be held on May 31.
About 14 percent voter turnout was recorded in the first two hours until 9 am.
Mandi and Jogindernagar recorded 15.42 per cent and 17.10 per cent polling respectively, while Rampur Municipal Council recorded 14.58 per cent, according to reports.
As many as 1,147 candidates are in the fray for 449 posts.
A total of 3,60,859 voters including 1,80,963 men, 1,79,882 women and 14 others, are eligible to exercise their franchise. The electorate also includes 1,808 first-time voters, comprising 961 men and 847 women. PTI BPL MDO MDO
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