Uttarakhand bypoll: 34.40% turnout recorded in Kedarnath till 1 pm

Dehradun: A voter turnout of 34.40 per cent was recorded in the Kedarnath assembly bypoll in Uttarakhand till 1 pm on Wednesday, officials said.

Polling began at 8 am and will go on till 6 pm. After a slow start, numbers of voters at polling booths swelled as the day progressed.

By 1 pm, 34.40 per cent of the electorate had cast their votes, an election official said.

District electoral officer Saurabh Gaharwar visited polling booths to ensure voting was going on smoothly. He also appealed to people to come out in large numbers to vote.

At many booths, 'bulawa toli' volunteers were seen helping the old and the infirm. Elderly women being helped by female 'bulawa toli' volunteers up the steps at polling booths was a common sight in Agastyamuni and Rudraprayag.

Kedarnath seat in Rudraprayag district fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Shaila Rani Rawat in July this year.

The bypoll is a prestige battle for the BJP which cannot afford to lose the seat after having tasted defeat in the pilgrimage town of Badrinath in the July bypolls.

There are six candidates in the fray, with a direct contest between BJP's Asha Nautiyal and Congress' Manoj Rawat.

A total of 173 polling booths have been set up in the constituency and CCTVs have been installed in 130 of them.

The polling booths are being continuously monitored by offices of district and chief election officers as well as the Election Commission through webcasting, said Chief Electoral Officer BVRC Purushottam.