Himachal Pradesh Election

Himachal Pradesh Elections are speculated to be held in November 2022 in Himachal Pradesh to elect 68 members of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly. BJP has released the list of 62 candidates for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Election. There are names of many other leaders named Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur is also present. He will be contesting from the Seraj assembly seat.

The Seraj assembly seat from the Mandi district is considered to be a VIP seat. Also, the influence of Rajput fraternity is believed to be the highest on this seat. CM Jai Ram Thakur has won 5 consecutive times from the Seraj seat. Himachal Pradesh goes to poll on November 12. The BJP high instruct has changed the ranks of two ministers and cut the ticket of one minister. Tickets of 11 MLAs have been cut. The name of the senior-most minister in the government, Mahendra Singh Thakur, is missing from the list. However, his son has been given a ticket from Dharampur light. 

The party has also changed the ranks of two considered strong Ministers in the Jai Ram government. The BJP has fielded Senior Shimla District leader Suresh Bhardwaj who has been playing the election innings from the capital for a long period from Kusumpti. Similarly, the party’s leader from Kangra and Dabang Minister Rakesh Pathania has also changed. Instead of Nurpur, he has fielded him in the election season from Fatehpur. 

Congress Party Candidates Announcement

Whereas the Congress party has released the first list of 46 candidates for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections. The Congress has surpassed the BJP in announcing the first candidate. Congress has played gamble on three women, including five new faces. But there is still a problem with 22 seats. Their list is probable to be released on Wednesday. Most of the leaders of the Pratibha Vir Bhadra Singh faction are included in the first list. The party has given tickets to candidates who are below 50 years old. And also, the party has renominated the present 19 MLAs.

Former Ministers Kaul Singh Thakur, Sudhir Sharma, Prakash Chaudhary and Chandra Kumar Chaudhary have been given a chance again. The candidates of Kangra MLA Pawan Kajal and Nalagarh MLA Lakhwinder Rana, who left Congress and joined BJP, have not yet been decided. Inspite of being surrounded by allegations of familism, Congress has also played bets on winning candidates who are the children of established leaders. Former State President of the Party Kuldeep Singh Rathore has been given three more seats, including one parliamentary seat in a by-election. 

With its plans in Himachal Pradesh crashed following a series of setbacks, the AAP is now focusing on the Assembly Election in Gujarat. AAP released the first four candidates on September 20, 2022. 

Election Date and Result Date of Himachal Pradesh Election

The Himachal Pradesh Assembly Election will take place on November 12 with single-phase polling for all 68 constituencies, and the counting of votes will be on December 8. This is the third time since 1998 that the declaration of the Gujarat Assembly Election has been separated from that of Himachal Pradesh. In Himachal Pradesh, there are 1.86 lakhs first-time voters aged 80 plus and 1,184 voters older than 100 years old. The last date for accomplishing this has been set as October 25. The survey of nomination will take place on October 27. At the same time, the last date for cancellation of candidatures has been arranged on October 29. 

Schedule

List of Congress Candidates

The Congress Party has declared its first list of 46 candidates for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Election. Kuldeep Singh Rathore, Former Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee President, will be contesting from Theog, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Former State Party President, will be contesting from Nadaun, whereas Mukesh Agnihotri, Congress Legislature Party Leader from Haroli, Asha Kumari, a Former Minister from Dalhousie and Kaul Singh Former Minister from Darang will contest among others. Khimi Ram, who has recently shifted to congress from BJP, has been named as the candidate of the party from the Chamba seat. Among other important candidates are Kewal Singh Pathania from Shahpur, Chander Kumar from Jawali, Sudhir Sharma from Dharamshala, Harshwardhan Chauhan from Shillai, Vikramaditya Singh from Shimla (Rural) seat and Dhani Ram Shandil from Solan. The leading BJP has 43 MLAs, and currently, Congress has 22. One CPI (M) MLA and two independents are in the assembly. 

Details of Selected Candidates

List of BJP Candidates

Current Performance of the Government of Himachal Pradesh

Before the Assembly elections, the ruling BJP and Congress reinforced an attack on each other. The Congress Vice President has accused the BJP government of doing nothing during the last around five years. He has demanded Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to produce the report card in front of the public. Also, he added BJP had done nothing and now declaring freebies forecasting its defeat in Assembly Elections. He said unemployed youth, state employees, fruit growers and farmers are protesting, but the government is not listening. It proves that the CM does not dare to face the government. But BJP Chief Spokesperson Randhir Sharma stated that BJP had done more than its manifesto commitments. In comparison, Congress has a leadership crisis at the State level as well as at the National level. 

Suresh Bhardwaj, Urban Development Minister, stated that Palampur, Solan, and Mandi Municipal Councils had been modernized into Municipal Corporations. Also, the State Finance Commission grant to urban local bodies had inflated from Rs 432.78 crore during the Congress to Rs 751.06 crore during BJP rule presently.

Projects Initiated by BJP

Only four projects were initiated under the Dharamshala smart city programme in the time of Congress rule, and only Rs 11.54 crore were used while 19 projects were finished. But during the BJP government, 57 projects are in progress where Rs 358 crore has been used. 

Bhartiya Janata Party for November polls will revolve around personal ties with the hill state. CM Thakur announced projects worth Rs 1,000 crore, including pipelines, road construction, bridges, schools, medicals and health infrastructure. The Congress is orienting the campaign around freebies where Pratibha Singh had declared free electricity for 300 units, 5,00,000 government jobs, mobile clinics for free treatment and a Rs 680 crore package for start-up companies to chase young voters. 

Can AAP Demolish the Equation of BJP in Himachal Pradesh Election

After winning in Punjab, AAP expects to repeat its victory in Himachal too. Delhi Chief Minister Party Supremo Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Kejriwal’s Deputy and Bhagwatt Man, CM of Punjab, made continual visits to Himachal but did not have a noticeable effect on the electorate though the party is first of the blocks declaring four election candidates where former BJP MP Rajan Sushant from Fatehpur is also included. The AAP achieved in fielding some good candidates in the seats selected, which could prove a game changer. 

In April 2022, AAP vowed 300 units of electricity for every household. It published 10 promises to be fulfilled if AAP comes to power. 

• Employment- 6 lakh government jobs for youth, unemployment allowance of Rs 3000, implementation of old pension scheme
• Agriculture- MSP minimum support price for products of agriculture. Markets, controlled atmosphere stores, food processing units and packaging manufacturing units. 
• Traders: an advisory committee for traders. End of inspector rule and raid raj. 
• Corruption- Free administration: doorstep delivery of public services.
• Free health care
• Free education
• Women empowerment: a monthly allowance of Rs 1000 to all women in Himachal.
• Free pilgrimage scheme
• 1 crore compensation for soldiers
• 10 lakh annual grant to panchayats

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