HP bypolls: 30 polling booths marked sensitive, five hypersensitive in Fatehpur

Kangra deputy commissioner-cum-district electoral officer Nipun Jindal said five polling booths have been declared model, while two will be managed by all-female staff and one by ‘divyang’ staff

Thirty polling booths out of 141 in Fatehpur assembly segment, which will go to polls on October 30, have been declared sensitive, Kangra deputy commissioner-cum-district electoral officer Nipun Jindal said on Thursday.

Officials reach polling stations for upcoming bypoll to Mandi Lok Sabha seat on Thursday. (Birbal Sharma/HT)

Jindal said there are 111 main polling booths. Thirty auxiliary booths have been set in the wake of Covid-19 so as to prevent the spread of the virus.

“Thirty of these booths are sensitive and five hypersensitive,” Jindal said.

He said as per the revised electoral rolls, 87,222 voters are registered in Fatehpur assembly segment of which 44,605 are male and 42,557 female. Among the total electorate, 1,536 are service voters, 1,507 male and 29 female.

“More than 6,000 voters have been added in the electoral rolls of Fatehpur since 2017 assembly elections,” he added.

Sath-Kuthera, a tiny island located in the middle of Pong lake, is the remotest polling booth in the constituency as it can only be reached by a boat. This polling booth also has the lowest number of voters – 96. “Polling at Kuthera booth has always been impressive. In 2017 assembly election, 82 voters of the village had exercised their franchise and 81 in 2019 parliamentary polls,” he said.

A polling booth was setup in the village for the first time in the 2007 assembly elections.

It lacks electricity and has no proper drinking water supply scheme. The village is non-existent in revenue records for the land on which it is situated is property of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).

Jindal said five polling booths were declared model polling booths, while two booths will be managed by all-female staff and one by ‘divyang’ staff.

“To ensure the maximum public participation, we have run various campaigns at every booth in the assembly segments,” he added.

Jindal said in 2017 assembly elections, there were total 80,793 registered voters in Fatehpur of whom 58,665 had cast their vote and polling percentage remained 72.61%.

In 2019 general elections, the number of registered voters rose to 85,410 and 59,588 had exercised their franchise. The poll percentage was 69.67%.