LS polls: Nearly 25% polling recorded in Uttarakhand in first 4 hours

Dehradun: Nearly 25 per cent polling was recorded in the first four hours of voting for the Lok Sabha election in Uttarakhand on Friday, poll officials here said.

Fifty-five candidates are in the fray for the five Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.

Election officials said polling began at 7 am and by 11 am, 24.83 per cent of voters cast their votes.

Haridwar recorded the highest of 26.47 per cent of polling so far, followed by Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar with 26.46 per cent, Pauri Garhwal with 24.43 per cent, Tehri Garhwal with 23.23 per cent and Almora with 22.21 per cent.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was among the first to cast his vote. Dhami, his mother and his wife arrived at the Nagra Terai polling station in Khatima and stood in a queue to exercise their franchise.

Talking to reporters, the chief minister noted that there was great enthusiasm among people.

"Over the last 10 years, Uttarakhand has seen unprecedented development. People of all sections have benefited from it. They will vote to give a third term to Narendra Modi," Dhami said.

He also spoke of the BJP's Sankalp Patra, which talks about the need for a Uniform Civil Code on the lines of the one passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly.

"The Ganga of UCC which has originated from Uttarakhand will flow throughout the country," he said.

Former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who is the BJP candidate from Haridwar, also cast his vote along with his wife and two daughters and said he was confident of winning the seat by more than five lakh votes.

Among others who cast their votes are yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Acharya Balkrishna.

The duo cast voted at the Dadubagh polling station in Kankhal around 10 am.

Ramdev later told reporters that he has voted for heritage-based development and culture-based prosperity of the country.

"I have voted to free India from economic, educational, medical and cultural slavery," he said.

BJP national spokesman and Pauri Garhwal candidate Anil Baluni also cast his vote.

Just-married couples in their wedding attires turned up at various polling stations in the state to exercise their franchise. The old and the physically challenged voters were carried on stretchers and wheelchairs to the poling booths.