Voting began at 8 am in Mandi Lok Sabha seat and Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly seats and gradually gained momentum.
The election officer said that till 5 pm, 49.83 per cent polling was recorded in Mandi while 62.4 per cent, 61.33 per cent and 66.1 per cent polling was recorded for Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly seats respectively.
Mandi Lok Sabha constituency has 12,99,756 voters, Fatehpur 87,222, Arki 92,609 and Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly constituency has 70,965 eligible voters. An official said that 2,484 polling stations and 312 auxiliary polling stations have been set up for the bypolls.
By-elections in these four seats are being held due to the death of sitting MPs and MLAs. The counting of votes for all these seats will be done on November 2. Six candidates are in the fray for Mandi Lok Sabha seat and 12 candidates for three assembly seats.
Barring Jubbal-Kotkhai, a direct contest is expected between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress in all the seats. In Jubbal-Kotkhai, rebel BJP candidate Chetan Singh Bragta is trying his luck as an independent. However, all eyes are on the by-election to Mandi seat as this constituency is the home constituency of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
The BJP has fielded Kargil war hero Brigadier Khushal Singh Thakur against Congress candidate Pratibha Singh from Mandi. Pratibha Singh is the wife of former Chief Minister Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.
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