sidelights
GROOM DECIDES TO VOTE FIRST, MARRY LATER
A groom, Govind Ram, along with the “baarat” reached a polling booth in Manali to cast his vote, before proceeding for the wedding. His family members said they decided to fulfil democratic duty first.
VIRBHADRA RUNS HIS VIDEO LIVE ON FB
Chief minister Virbhadra Singh could land in trouble as he streamed a live video of the voting process in Rampur on his Facebook page. When Virbhadra went inside polling booth, he was followed by the media and his wife Pratibha Singh. One of his IT team members ran the live video in which the CM is seen struggling with poor lighting in the voting compartment.
CLAIMS FALL FLAT: NO LIVE UPDATES ON EC SITE
Notwithstanding tall claims of the election commission, there was no online update of the polling trend on its website. The poll panel had been claiming to have adopted latest technology, but its website had no link for updates. An official said: “The system is not functional.”
EXPRESSING LOYALTY, BUT DEFYING LAW
To express their loyalty, people went out on Facebook and put their picture while casting vote. Some have put pictures of VVPAT machines showing symbol of particular party, while some uploaded pictures while pressing the button.
ALLWOMAN BOOTHS
There were 136 all-woman polling stations across state and two polling booths per assembly segment were entirely managed by women. Most were near to the main station of the segment.