Polling begins for four seats in Himachal

Shimla, May 19 (IANS) All the four Lok Sabha seats of Himachal Pradesh went to the polls amid tight security on Sunday in the seventh and final phase of general elections.Electors across the state could be seen reaching polling stations even before voting started at 7 a.m. in the morning."There has been no report of any delay in starting the poll process," Chief Electoral Officer Devesh Kumar told IANS.The main contest is between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Forty-five candidates are in the fray for the four seats -- Shimla (reserved for Scheduled Castes), Kangra, Mandi and Hamirpur.Of the 7,730 polling booths in the state, seven have been set up especially for senior citizens in Bara Bhangal and Dari in Kangra district and Key in Lahaul-Spiti district. Lahaul-Spiti is one of the most rugged, inhospitable terrains in the state.
--IANS vg/pgh/