People reach to vote at world's highest polling station in Himachal Pradesh, located at an altitude of 15,256 feet

Prem Lal and his team are fully prepared to conduct elections in the rugged and mobile-less connectivity area of ​​Tshighang, a small village located at an altitude of 15,256 feet on the snowy peak of the Himalayas.

Lal, one of the 29 booth level officers deployed from Kaza at polling stations in Lahaul-Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh, reached the Sub-Divisional Magistrate's office on Thursday and he knew that the next few days were going to be challenging for him and his five team members.

Spiti Valley, located near the Indo-China border, comes under the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, which is one of the four parliamentary constituencies in Himachal Pradesh and the second largest constituency in India. Bollywood actress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Kangana Ranaut is contesting from this seat against Congress' Vikramaditya Singh.

The polling station at Tshighang has 62 voters from Tshighang and Gete and has been made a model polling booth.

It takes one-and-a-half hours to reach Tshighang, located on the other side of the mountain opposite the SDM office in Kaza and is a rugged area where the weather keeps changing.

Lal said, "I have been part of a team that has conducted elections earlier at the country's second-highest polling station in Hikkim (in Spiti Valley). So, I have some experience." He paused for a while and said, "There will be some difficulty." There is no mobile connectivity in this area and power supply is also limited but preparations for polling are in full swing.

Additional District Commissioner Rahul Jain told PTI-Bhasha, "The team will be given a satellite phone and a 'runner' will be deployed to send the polling data to the headquarters. This area is inaccessible but our team is committed and we have made all the preparations.''

A wall at the polling station in the area reads, "India's highest polling station, Tshighang -4,650 metres."

The welcome board, adorned with colourful lights, reads in Hindi, "Swagatam. We heartily welcome all voters to the world's highest polling station."

Kumar Prince, the polling supervisor at the Tshighang polling station, said, "The temperature in other parts of the country is touching 50 degrees Celsius but here it is a different world. I hope everyone has enough warm clothes."

Prince said, "This is a special and important task assigned to us. If we do not make the people of inaccessible areas a part of this process, then how can we tell the world that ours is the strongest democracy?"

During summer, the temperature in Tshighang ranges from five to 20 degrees Celsius, but the mercury can also drop due to sudden change in weather. Polling personnel and security personnel were greeted with snowfall on May 30 and the mercury dropped to minus five degrees Celsius at night.

Additional District Commissioner Jain said that in November 2022, all eligible voters had exercised their franchise despite the extreme cold.