India, May 28 -- Polling for the second phase of panchayat elections across 1,276 panchayats in Himachal Pradesh began at 7am on Thursday, recording a voter turnout of 21.36% within the first two hours.

Long queues formed early in the morning as both first-time voters and senior citizens showed enthusiasm at the booths.

Sirmaur district registered the highest initial turnout at 23.59%, while Lahaul and Spiti district recorded the lowest at 14.62%.

A total of 17.3 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballots in this phase, comprising 8,74,416 men, 8,55,597 women, and 17 third-gender individuals.

The democratic exercise is part of a larger three-phase election process to choose 31,182 public representatives, which includes 3,754 pradh...