Tuesday, 19 March 2024 | Gajendra Singh Negi | DEHRADUN
These voters, mostly ascetics, will cast their votes at Gangotri even as the shrine remains closed for pilgrims
The polling station located in the building of the Irrigation department at the Gangotri temple compound in Uttarkashi district is the highest polling station in Uttarakhand. Located at an altitude of 10,170 feet above the mean sea level (MSL) this polling station (named Gangotri Puri) was made during the Lok Sabha elections of 2019. The polling station has only 82 voters who are mostly the ascetics who prefer to engage in mediation in the area even during the harsh winters when the portals of the Gangotri shrine remain closed to pilgrims. These voters which include 11 women will exercise their franchise at the polling station located at the lofty heights on April 19 while the portals of the shrine will open on May 10 on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. In the last Assembly elections held in 2022, there were 135 voters in Gangotri Puri polling station. It is pertinent to mention here that the voters of Gangotri had to travel to either Dharali or Mukhba before the Election Commission decided to set up a polling station there in the LS elections of 2019.
The Kalgoth polling station situated at an altitude of 10,000 feet above the MSL is the second highest polling station located in the State. This polling station is under the Badrinath Assembly constituency. The Thangdhar (Saur) polling station of Tehri Assembly constituency is the third highest polling station in Uttarakhand. It is located at an elevation of 8,500 feet above the MSL. Similarly Bauna (8,202 feet) in Dharchula Assembly constituency, Keemu (7,840 feet) in Kapkot Assembly segment, Triyuginarayan (7,608 feet) in Kedarnath Assembly segment, Mukteshwar (Bhimtal) and Tadikhet (Nainital) polling stations- both located at altitude of 7,500 feet above MSL are some other places where the polling parties will scale heights to set up booths for the voters.
