Shimla, Apr 9 (IANS): The bypoll for the assembly seat of Bhoranj in Himachal Pradesh saw 47 per cent voting till 1 p.m. on Sunday, officials said.

Long queues of electors were seen across the constituency in Hamirpur district. The voters started reaching the polling stations even before voting opened at 8 a.m.

"The voter turnout was 47 percent by 1 p.m.," an electoral officer told IANS.

Leader of Opposition and two-time BJP Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his wife were among those who exercised their franchise.

Five candidates, including three Independents, are in the fray.

The main contest is between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Bhoranj constituency has been a BJP stronghold for three decades.

The by-poll has been necessitated with the death of two-time former cabinet minister I.D. Dhiman, who had won six consecutive elections from this constituency.

His son Anil Dhiman, a physician by profession, is in the fray from the BJP. He is pitted against Promila Devi of the Congress.

The constituency has 73,485 voters, including 37,843 women.