Booth for 37 voters in Lahaul village

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, May 13

Linger village in tribal district Lahaul-Spiti has only 37 voters — 20 male and 17 female. According to Election Commission information, Linger polling booth under Jobrang panchayat in the district will cater to the minimum number of voters.

Lahaul-Spiti district has a total of 92 polling booths, out of which 29 are in Spiti and 63 in Lahaul. The total numbers of voters in the district is 23,641. There are 11,876 males and 11,765 female voters, who will exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha election on May 19.

The tribal district of Lahaul-Spiti also has the highest polling station in the world at Tashigang village at a height of 15,226 feet. Lahaul Spiti district, which falls under Mandi parliamentary constituency, is difficult to access for political campaign even in the month of May because of the closure of mighty Rohtang Pass due to excessive snow.

The Rohtang Pass, gateway to Lahaul on the Manali-Leh highway, receives heavy snowfall during winter, which cuts off the tribals from the rest of the state, for six months every year.

Confirming the report, Deputy Commissioner Lahaul Spiti Ashwani Kumar Chaudhari said that Linger is indentified as polling booth having minimum number of voters in the state. He said that the district administration was struggling hard to link each polling booth with road facility. The roads leading to these polling booths were blocked since December because of heavy snowfall.

The Deputy Commissioner stated that a majority of polling booths in Lahaul Spiti have been connected with road facility, while efforts were on to restore the road toward two polling booths at Khanjar and Naingar.