February 27, 2003	Thursday	Zul Hijjah 25, 1423

SHIMLA, Feb 26: Four Indian states — Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya — voted for local assemblies on Wednesday, including in a key northern state where the performance of ruling Hindu nationalists could indicate how they would fare in national elections next year.

Voting was relatively peaceful in northern Himachal Pradesh, where Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was headed for a photo-finish with the Congress party. The BJP currently rules the state.

But five members of a security patrol and two rebels died in violence in the troubled northeast, where three smaller states also voted for new state assemblies.

Results are expected on Saturday, when counting starts for all four states. There were no early exit polls after voting closed on Wednesday afternoon.

Almost five million people are eligible to vote for a new 68-seat assembly in Himachal.—Reuters