Himachal Assembly elections to decide political fate of 412 candidates today- Check other details

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh): The hill state of Himachal Pradesh is all set to vote for all the 68 Assembly seats as the high-voltage political campaigns came to an end on November 10. The voting will begin at 8 am and continue till 5 pm and the votes will be counted on December 8. The voters need to carry their Elector's Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) and show it at the polling booth. They may also carry one ID beside their photo voter slips. A total of 55,92,828 electors of which 27,37,845 are women, 28,54,945 men, and 38 were third-gender, will decide the faith of 412 candidates, according to the Election Commission. 

This time, the representation of woman candidates is 24. The state has seen the power alternate between the BJP and Congress over the past several elections. Out of 68 Assembly seats, the BJP bagged the majority 44 seats in the 2017 Assembly polls, while the Congress was restricted to just 21 seats.

Even as the incumbent BJP has expressed confidence in returning to power on the basis of the performance of state and central governments and its vision for the state, the Congress is hoping that some of its electoral promises will be a major draw among the electorate. The Aam Adami Party (AAP) is also expected to create a mark in the state by contesting on all 68 seats. Apart from these three parties, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Rashtriya Devbhumi Party (RDP) are also in the fray.

Also read: Himachal Assembly Election 2022 LIVE: BJP vs Congress vs AAP battle today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned in the hill state. Besides PM Modi, the BJP also brought star campaigners like Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party chief Jagat Prakash Nadda and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the assembly polls, which carry much significance for the party's national president, JP Nadda, as Himachal Pradesh is his native state.

Also read: Himachal Pradesh Poll 2022: Around 30,000 security personnel placed on duty

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also hit the ground along with other top leaders of the party including Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, but Rahul Gandhi remained away from the campaigning in the state due to his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

According to Election Commission, a total of 7,881 polling stations have been set up for the polls. The Kangra district has a maximum of 1,625 polling stations while the Lahaul-Spiti district has the lowest 92. There are 7,235 polling stations in rural and 646 polling stations in urban areas, besides setting up three auxiliary polling stations at Sidhbari (Dharamshala), Bara Bhangal (Baijnath) and Dhillon (Kasauli).

Key constituencies in Himachal Assembly polls 

The key constituencies include Seraj from where Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur is contesting again. Congress has put up Chetram Thakur to challenge the Chief Minister from the seat, while the CPI-M has fielded Mahinder Rana from this seat. 

Congress legislature party leader Mukesh Agnihotri is contesting his fifth election from the Haroli assembly segment in the Una district. BJP has pitted state spokesperson Ram Kumar against him. Former Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, seen as a chief ministerial aspirant, is contesting from Nadaun. The BJP has fielded Vijay Agnihotri.

Former Himachal Minister and Congress leader Asha Kumari is contesting from Dalhousie against BJP`s DS Thakur and AAP`s Manish Sareen. 

Senior Congress leader Kaul Singh Thakur is again fighting from his traditional seat of Darang against BJP`s Puran Chand Thakur and AAP candidate Sunita Thakur. Vikramaditya Singh, son of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, is recontesting from Shimla rural, facing the challenge from the BJP's Ravi Mehta.

In Shimla Urban, Congress` Harish Janartha is taking on BJP`s `chaiwala` candidate Sanjay Sood. AAP`s Chaman Rakesh Ajta and CPI-M`s Tikender Singh Pawar are also in the fray. 

In Nurpur, BJP has fielded a new candidate Ranveer Singh who is fighting against Ajay Mahajan of Congress and Manishi Kumari from AAP. Bhawani Paathania, who won the recent by-election from Fatehpur, is fighting against BJP minister and candidate Rakesh Pathania. AAP has fielded former Himachal minister Rajan Sushant.

In Nagrota, Congress candidate RS Bali is fighting against BJP candidate Arun Kumar Mehra and APP candidate Umakant Dogra. Speaker of Himachal Pradesh Assembly Vipin Parmar is fighting from Sulah against Jagdish Sapheia and AAP candidate Ravinder Singh.

In Sujanpur, Congress has again fielded Rajinder Singh Rana who defeated former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in the 2017 elections. BJP has fielded Ranjit Singh from the seat and AAP has fielded Anil Rana. Dr Janak Raj of BJP is taking on senior Congress leader Thakur Singh Bharmauri from Bharmaur. AAP has fielded Prakash Chand Bharadwaj.

In Jubbal Kotkhai, the Congress has fielded sitting MLA Rohit Thakur. He is fighting against Chetan Singh Bragta of the BJP. CPI-M has fielded Vishal Shangta and Shrikant Chauhan is an AAP candidate. Former Congress state chief Kuldeep Rathore is pitted against CPI-M`s Rakesh Singha, BJP`s Ajay Shyam, and AAP`s Attar Singh.

Minister Suresh Bhardwaj was shifted from Shimla to Kasumpti. Congress candidate Anirudh Singh and CPI-M candidate Kuldeep Singh Tanwar are also in the fray. 

In order to hold free and fair Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh, 67 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) comprising 6,700 personnel and 15 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) companies have been deployed, along with 50,000 government employees on poll duty. As many as 25,000 police officers are also stationed across the state.

Teams from the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) comprising 800 personnel have also been deputed to meet any emergency situation. 

(With ANI Inputs)