A voter turnout of 65.95% was recorded for all 68 seats in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls, according to data from the Election Commission. The voting began at 8 am and ended at 5 pm.

Results of the single-phase elections will be announced on December 8. More than 55 lakh voters in the hill state will decide the fate of 412 candidates.

Chief Minister Jairam Thakur and his family members cast their votes at a polling booth in Seraj early on Saturday.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will look to stave off challenge from its main contender Congress in a state which has a four-decade old tradition of voting out the incumbent party. The Aam Aadmi Party will look to open its account in Himachal Pradesh, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) will add to the one seat it held in the outgoing Assembly.

A victory for the BJP will give the party an impetus ahead of the Assembly elections due in nine states next year, and the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. Meanwhile, for the Congress, the Himachal Pradesh polls are the first one since Mallikarjun Kharge took over as the party chief.

On Saturday morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters of Himachal Pradesh to create a new record of polling percentage.