15:03 (ist)

Tibetans in Dharamsala divided over voting in Assembly poll

Tibetans in Dharamsala, living in exile for long in the second capital of Himachal Pradesh, are divided over securing voting rights in India.

Some of the Tibetans feel that exercising their vote in India could dilute their struggle for freedom while others say that the Tibet movement is in their hearts and voting can't deter them from their struggle.

Although Tibetan voters are around 1,000 in Dharamsala, contestants in the fray for the November 9 Assembly polls cannot ignore this small segment as the presence of some powerful candidates has made the contest tight.

Dharamsala has the largest number of candidates in the fray. Twelve candidates are contesting from the key constituency while the main candidates are Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma of the Congress and former minister Kishan Kapoor of the BJP.