Tashigang is a tiny village perched high in the icy Himalayas at a staggering altitude of 15,256 feet. The village holds the distinction of hosting the highest polling station in the world.
The yellow-coloured polling station with the tricolour painted on its front is perched high on a hill, bleakly empty. This is the fourth time that voting will be conducted at Tashigang, which has been in the record books since 2019 as the highest polling station in the world.
The polling station at Tashigang, serving 62 voters from Tashigang and Gete, has been made a model polling booth. The hour-and-a-half-long journey to Tashigang, located on the other side of a mountain facing the SDM's office in Kaza, is as formidable as the landscape itself -- rugged terrain, narrow winding dirt roads and unpredictable weather.
Located near the India-China border, the Spiti valley is part of the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, one of the four parliamentary constituencies in Himachal Pradesh and the second largest in India. Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is up against the Congress's Vikramaditya Singh from the seat.
A polling official demonstrates the voting process during the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha polls at the world's highest polling station, in Tashigang, Lahaul and Spiti.
The entire polling team and the voters donned beautiful traditional Chuba attire. They took selfies at a selfie point set up against the backdrop of brown hills and a bright blue sky.
The landscape was breathtaking but completely desolate -- a few houses were visible only because of their bright colours against the brown hills. There is nothing for miles in between, and with no or very limited mobile connectivity, tourists frequently lose their way.
The brown hills on either side were dotted with white pools of snow, slowly melting in the sun. At some places, water from the melting snow accumulated on the dirt road, making it dangerous to drive through.
There is no hospital, clinic, school or market in Tashigang. The residents travel to Kaza, around 30 kilometres away, for medical and other needs.
Tourist Gaia Raba and first-time voter Lanzom, background, decorate the world's highest polling station on the eve of the last phase of Lok Sabha elections. During the summer months, temperatures in Tashigang range from 5 to 20 degrees Celsius.