18 officials embark on 40km trek to remotest polling booth in Kangra
DHARAMSHALA : As a helicopter would not be able to airlift them due to inclement weather prevailing over Dhauladhar mountain range, poll officials would be trekking for three days to reach Bara Bhangal, the remotest village polling booth in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.
An 18-member poll party has embarked on a 40-km trek and would likely reach the small hamlet tucked away deep in Himalayas on May 18.
The team members were to leave for Bara Bhangal on Thursday in a helicopter, but adverse weather conditions forced the authorities to reschedule their departure for Wednesday, said Baijanth assistant returning officer Rameshwar Das.
He said the team drove up to Nayagran in Holi area of Chamba district from where the members started an arduous 40-km trek.
Located at a height of 2,575 metres in the Dhauladhar range, Bara Bhangal is considered to be one of the remotest villages in the hill state.
There are at least 345 registered voters in Bara Bhangal. However, with most of the residents migrating to Bir near Baijnath, there are only 70 voters left at the village. Another booth for the Bara Bhangal is set up at Bir, where migrants exercise their right to franchise.
A polling booth was first set up in the village during the assembly elections in 2007.
While voters in Bada Bhangal boycotted the general elections in 2009 over non-fulfilment of their demand to exclude the village from the sanctuary area, they had voted in the 2012 assembly polls.
Choppers were used to airlift polling parties to the Bara Bhangal polling booth during the previous elections.
The present party is being led by presiding officer Sujit Kumar and comprises an assistant presiding officer, five polling officials, a three-member medical team, two policemen, five porters, Bara Bhangal panchayat secretary and a booth-level officer. The booth would be set up at the middle school building at Bara Bhangal.
Meanwhile, HP’s chief electoral officer Devesh Kumar on Thursday said seven poll parties deployed for as many polling booths set up in Dodra Kwar, the remote subdivision of Shimla, have departed to their respective destination.