Himachal Election 2017 LIVE: 28.6% voting till 12 pm

New Delhi (November 9): With 337 candidates in fray, polling in the high stake Himachal Pradesh Assembly election began on Thursday at 8:00 am. Polling for all the 68 constituencies will go on till 5:00 pm. The state is going for polling just before Gujarat polls which will begin from next month.  Himachal Pradesh Assembly election LIVE COVERAGE

• 55% voting till 2pm
• 28.6% voting till 12 pm

#HimachalElections2017 Union Minister JP Nadda casts his vote at a polling booth in Bilaspur pic.twitter.com/wt7a9jrJr0

— ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2017

• 13.72% polling recorded in first two hours of Himachal Pradesh elections

#HimachalPradeshElections Virbhadra Singh and his son Vikramaditya cast their votes at a polling booth in Shimla. Virbhadra Singh says the Congress party will be victorious with full majority pic.twitter.com/CKm4rxorbo

— ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2017

Hamirpur: BJP's chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal and BJP MP from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur cast their votes. #HimachalPradeshElections pic.twitter.com/pNxe6IzYu0

— ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2017

• Confident of getting majority in the election, the next government too will be of Congress: Virbhadra Singh (9:50 am)
• We aimed to get 50 plus seats but now that we are receiving so much support from all sections of the society, we expect it to cross 60: Prem Kumar Dhumal, BJP's CM candidate

Elderly woman, Barfi Devi, casts her vote at polling booth number 7 in Samirpur #HimachalPradesh pic.twitter.com/2TILgQi2Pk

— ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2017

#HimachalElections2017 Voters queue up to cast their votes at a polling booth in Dharamshala. pic.twitter.com/Z8nfe5g6ID — ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2017

• Voting for Himachal Pradesh Assembly election begins (8:00 am)
• 11,500 Himachal Pradesh police jawans, 6400 Home guards, 65 companies of paramilitary forces deployed across the state for the assembly election (7:53 am)
• Himachal Pradesh Assembly election to take place, polling for all the 68 constituencies will begin at 8:00 am and go on till 5:00 pm (7:23 am)

#Visuals from a polling station in Mandi, voting to begin at 8 AM in all the 68 constituencies #HimachalPradesh pic.twitter.com/Z8fL2OpcxG — ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2017

The high-octane campaign for Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections marked by acrimonious exchanges between the two contenders for power--the state's ruling Congress and main opposition BJP--ended on Tuesday. The BJP announced Prem Kumar Dhumal as its chief ministerial face just a week ago. The saffron party's campaign was virtually spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who lacerated the Congress over corruption, while Rahul Gandhi mounted a spirited counteroffensive, targeting the Centre over note ban and the GST. The 73-year-old Dhumal, a two-term chief minister, is seeking to thwart the Congress's chief ministerial candidate Virbhadra Singh's record seventh shot at power. Himachal Pradesh Assembly election 2017: Interesting Facts

• A total of 50,25,941 voters are eligible to cast their vote
• 7,525 polling booths have been set up in the state
• 37,605 polling personnel have been deputed for poll duty
• 17,850 personnel of police and Home Guards and 65 companies of central paramilitary force have been deployed
• Ruling Congress led by the chief minister and the BJP led with former chief minister Dhumal are contesting on all 68 seats
• BSP is contesting on 42 seats
• CPI(M) 14, Swabhiman Party and Lok Gathbandhan Party six each and the CPI-3
• The 12-days high-voltage campaign saw over 450 rallies by star campaigners of the BJP and the Congress
• There is straight contest only in one constituency (Jhanduta)
• The maximum number of 12 candidates is in fray in Dharamsala
• BJP has fielded four Congressmen including former minister Anil Sharma
• BJP has also given ticket to on Independent from Chopal
• Congress had fielded two independents from Paonta Sahib and Kangra
• Both CM Virbhadra Singh and Dhumal have shifted their constituencies and are contesting from Arki and Sujanpur, respectively.