Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections 2017: The last date for filing nominations is October 23, while the last date of withdrawing nominations is October 26. (PTI)
Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections 2017: The northern state of Himachal will go to polls on November 9. In an announcement made by the Election Commission recently, the state will see a single phase voting with results to be declared on December 18. The polling process in the state will begin on October 16, after the gazette notification is issued. After this filing of nominations will take place. The election has to be completed before December 20.
The last date for filing nominations is October 23, while the last date of withdrawing nominations is October 26. Currently, the 68 member Assembly in Himachal Pradesh is ruled by Congress with 36, while the main Opposition party BJP has 26. Bulk SMSes and voice messages on phone will come in the purview of election advertisements.
The state has never re-elected a party since 1985, apart from the BJP and the Congress. Before BJP’s first win in 1990, the Congress had only conceded defeat to Janata Party in 1977. The report added that the current chief minister Virbhadra Singh will fight for the seventh term as chief minister. The BJP, on the other hand, is high on confidence after recent wins in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. While in Uttar Pradesh BJP has won 312 of 403 assembly seats, in Uttarakhand, it has won 56 of 70, in elections that were held early this year.
The state in only among the few where Congress is in power. The election will, therefore, be crucial for the party. In the 2014 general elections, the BJP had won all four seats from the state, which included Mandi seat, which is a Congress stronghold and then held by Virbhadra’s wife Pratibha Singh.
