Himachal Pradesh will go to polls on Thursday with traditional rivals, the Congress and the BJP locking horns in all 68 constituencies where 337 candidates including 62 MLAs are in the fray.
More than 50 lakh people will cast their votes for the election. The results will be announced 40 days later on 18 December.
File image of Virbhadra Singh. PTI
A party needs to win at least 35 seats to form government in Himachal Pradesh. According to NDTV in 2012, the Congress had won 36 seats while the BJP had won 26 seats.
At present, the Congress and the BJP have 35 and 28 MLAs respectively in the 68-member House besides four independents while one seat is vacant.
A total of 50,25,941 voters are eligible to cast their vote. As many as 7,525 polling booths have been set up in the state and 37,605 polling personnel have been deputed for poll duty.
The electoral contest in the State, according toThe Hindu, has been largely bipolar, with power alternating between the Congress and the BJP.
The ruling Congress led by the chief minister and the BJP led with former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal are contesting all 68 seats while the BSP is contesting 42 seats, followed by the CPM 14, Swabhiman Party and Lok Gathbandhan Party six each and the CPI 3.
The 12-days high-voltage campaign, which came to an end on Tusday, saw over 450 rallies by star campaigners of the BJP and the Congress including Prime minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah who addressed seven and six rallies respectively.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi addressed three rallies.
Corruption was the main focus of the BJP campaign with the party training its guns at Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, while the Congress hit out at the BJP over the issue of GST and demonetisation.
With inputs from PTI
Published Date: Nov 09, 2017 08:08 pm | Updated Date: Nov 09, 2017 09:58 pm
Highlights
BJP confident of a thumping victory
Chill in weather replaces poll fever; snowfall reported after voting ends
Soon after the polling exercise concluded in Himachal Pradesh, snowfall was reported from Kinnaur hills.
Several reports of malfunctioning of EVMs, VVPATs; Himachal first state to use paper trail machines
Reports of fault in VVPAT machines were received in Sirmaur district while polling started late by 15-20 minutes in some polling booths, PTI reported. Journalist Raghavendra Rao tweeted that 58 EVMs and 102 VVPATs had to be replaced during actual polling in the state. He said that the maximum number of technical snags were reported from in Una district, followed by Mandi, Kangra, Solan and Shimla regions.
Polling closes for Himachal Pradesh elections; only those in queue can now cast their votes
Polling Percentage breakup in Shimla region
In Chamba district, 67% polling recorded till 4 pm: News 18
Nalagarh records 80% polling
64.8 polling in till 4PM
A total of 50.25 lakh electorate, including 19 lakh women and 14 transgenders, will decide the fate of the candidates.
The Hikkim polling station in Lahaul-Spiti district, the country's highest polling booth at 14,567 ft, has 194 voters. The minimum number of voters - six - are at Kaa village in Kinnaur district. The polling will continue till 5 pm.
Women voters turn out in strength
Did you know, over 1,000 Tibetans are eligible to cast their votes in Himachal?
Tibetan refugees in India cannot apply for government jobs and routinely face difficulties. They don't get land lease documents, and are neither eligible for the government’s developmental schemes. However, the rules do allow all Tibetans born in India during 1950-1987 to get voting rights. Around 1,000 Tibetan voters are registered in Dharamsala region alone, and with the highest number of candidates in the fray, this small pocket of voters can easily play a decisive role in the tough contest.
This is what the outgoing House looked like
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.
Congress' Vidya Stokes could have been the oldest candidate in the fray
Stokes, 89, would have been the oldest contestant if she had remained in the electoral fray. However, the Election Commission had rejected her nomination papers, citing discrepancy in documents. An eight time legislator, and Himachal Pradesh's Irrigation and Public Health Minister, Stokes represented Theog constituency in the outgoing House.
She is the daughter-in-law of American missionary Satyanand Stokes.
Senior Congress leader Vidya Stokes cast her vote a polling booth in Shimla's Barubag
Independent India's first voter, 100-year-old Shyam Saran Negi castes his vote at Kalpa
Negi is hundred-and-one-years old and was 35 when the independent India went to polls for the first time. His wrinkled forehead and hollow cheeks may show signs of aging, but his enthusiasm to participate in yet another democratic exercise in his home state remains unsullied.
Negi says that he speaks on the basis of his health at this very moment. "You never know what might happen tomorrow," he says, adding, "sometimes even I don't know if I will see another day." Negi appeals to everyone, especially the youth, to come out and vote in large numbers.
Demonetisation, or Rs 1500, may cost BJP at least this one vote in Himachal
Demonetisation may cost the BJP at least this one vote in Himachal Pradesh. Staying in the Great Himalayan National Park alone, octogenarian Chatri Devi is determined to vote against demonetisation as her three banknotes are no good. Her grudge is that could not replace her three old banknotes of Rs 500 each after last year's denomination. "She is really upset with the BJP," her grandson Gumat Ram told IANS.
She showed three banknotes of Rs 500 each, which she couldn't change as the government didn't extend the deadline for exchanging demonetised currency notes beyond 30 December last year.
Chatri Devi, 83, lives all alone in the Unesco-tagged Great Himalayan National Park, one of the richest biodiversity sites in the western Himalayas, in the picturesque Kullu Valley. Park authorities say she is the only person living in the park that is spread over 754 sq km.
28.8 percent polling recorded till 12 pm in Himachal Pradesh
Reports of glitches in VVPAT machines
There are reports of glitches in VVPAT machines from over a dozen polling booths across the state.
Shimla records 16 percent polling till 10 am
Narendra Modi urges Himachal to vote in record numbers
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the people of Himachal Pradesh to come out and vote in "record numbers" for the assembly election underway in the state.
13.77 percent polling recorded till 10 am in Himachal Pradesh
Virbhadra Singh says confident of getting majority in the election
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said that the Congress is confident of getting a majority in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Election.
Prem Kumar Dhumal is BJP's shining light in the hills
Dhumal is a senior party leader and a two-time chief minister of the hill state. If the state votes in favour of anti-incumbency for a sixth straight time, as is widely expected, Dhumal would be on his way to clinching a third term as chief minister.
Dhumal was earlier chief minister from 2007 to 2013 before being deposed by Virbhadra Singh.
BJP expects to cross 60 seats in the polls: Prem Kumar Dhumal
BJP's chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal said that the party was aiming at 50 seats but because of the overwhelming support, it expects to cross 60.
Results of these polls will go beyond 'routine' anti-incumbency
There is something about the upcoming Assembly election in Himachal Pradesh that goes beyond routine anti-incumbency. India has been witnessing some very intriguing election results ever since 2014. It started with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi winning the first-ever Assembly election of Telangana and the Congress being wiped out and relegated to third position in Andhra Pradesh.
Read the entire article by Yashwant Deshmukh here.
Here's the party-wise list of candidates for 68 constituencies
The ruling Congress led by the chief minister and the BJP led with former chief minister Dhumal are contesting all 68 seats while the BSP is contesting 42 seats.
Click to read the entire list here
Polling yet to start at Reckong Peo in Kinnaur
Polling is yet to begin at Reckong Peo, a booth managed by women, in Kinnaur.
Voting to continue till 5 pm on Thursday
A total of 50.25 lakh electorate, including 19 lakh women and 14 transgenders, will decide the fate of the candidates in Himachal Pradesh Assembly Election. The polling will continue till 5 pm.
Polling for all 68 constituencies begins in Himachal Pradesh
Exit polls cannot be made public before 14 December: EC
Exit poll results for Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat Assembly elections cannot be made public before 14 December evening, the Election Commission said.
A poll panel order citing election law said "conducting any exit poll and publishing or publicising by means of the print or electronic media or dissemination in any other manner, whatsoever the result of any exit poll in connection with the current general elections to the legislative assemblies of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat shall be prohibited" between 8 am from 9 November to 6 pm of 14 December. - PTI
EC asks media to refrain from airing predictions by astrologers
Predictions about election results by astrologers, tarot readers and others in media when there is a ban on broadcasting exit polls are a violation of law, the Election Commission said
The EC's advisory asked the media, both electronic and print, to "refrain" from airing and publishing such programmes in future elections during the prohibited period to ensure free, fair and transparent polls.
Tight security arrangements in place
As many as 7,525 polling booths have been set up in the state and 37,605 polling personnel have been deputed for poll duty.
Web-casting would be used in 2,307 polling stations in the state for live monitoring of polling activities in the state by Election Commission of India and polling would be held from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm, the Chief Election Officer said.
Tight security in Himachal Pradesh as polling is set to begin soon
Only 19 women candidates in Himachal Pradesh elections
There are 19 women in the fray including six fielded by the BJP and three by the Congress while seven rebels each of BJP and Congress are also contesting the polls.
Here's a look at the chief ministeral candidates of Congress and BJP
On one side is the Congress' sitting chief minister Virbhadra Singh, while on the other hand is BJP's old warhorse Prem Kumar Dhumal in the fray. The battle for the hill state is one of the rare examples when the BJP has put its stake on a clear candidate in the two-horse race.
Dhumal, a two-term chief minister, will seek to thwart Singh's record seventh shot at power. Singh, 83, the tallest Congress leader in the state, is
facing graft cases and is locked in a bitter feud with state Congress chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu whose ouster he sought but failed to ensure ahead of the elections. The old Congress warhorse also has to contend with the possible anti-incumbency.
Modi urges Himachal to vote in record numbers
Polling for all 68 constituencies in Himachal Pradesh begins at 8 am
All 68 constituencies in Himachal Pradesh will hold simultaneous polling today, and it remains to be seen if Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh can buck the anti-incumbency trend and clinch a second straight win. If he does so, it will be the first time in nearly three decades that the hill state has not voted anti-incumbency.
21:43 (IST)
BJP confident of a thumping victory
21:35 (IST)
ananyas [9:33 PM]
Infogram
18:27 (IST)
Polling still on at a few stations
18:12 (IST)
Chill in weather replaces poll fever; snowfall reported after voting ends
Soon after the polling exercise concluded in Himachal Pradesh, snowfall was reported from Kinnaur hills.
17:56 (IST)
Electoral fate of 337 candidates locked in EVMs
17:36 (IST)
Several reports of malfunctioning of EVMs, VVPATs; Himachal first state to use paper trail machines
Reports of fault in VVPAT machines were received in Sirmaur district while polling started late by 15-20 minutes in some polling booths, PTI reported. Journalist Raghavendra Rao tweeted that 58 EVMs and 102 VVPATs had to be replaced during actual polling in the state. He said that the maximum number of technical snags were reported from in Una district, followed by Mandi, Kangra, Solan and Shimla regions.
17:12 (IST)
Polling closes for Himachal Pradesh elections; only those in queue can now cast their votes
17:00 (IST)
Polling Percentage breakup in Shimla region
16:53 (IST)
In Chamba district, 67% polling recorded till 4 pm: News 18
16:52 (IST)
Nalagarh records 80% polling
16:51 (IST)
64.8 polling in till 4PM
A total of 50.25 lakh electorate, including 19 lakh women and 14 transgenders, will decide the fate of the candidates.
The Hikkim polling station in Lahaul-Spiti district, the country's highest polling booth at 14,567 ft, has 194 voters. The minimum number of voters - six - are at Kaa village in Kinnaur district. The polling will continue till 5 pm.
16:03 (IST)
Women voters turn out in strength
15:36 (IST)
Did you know, over 1,000 Tibetans are eligible to cast their votes in Himachal?
Tibetan refugees in India cannot apply for government jobs and routinely face difficulties. They don't get land lease documents, and are neither eligible for the government’s developmental schemes. However, the rules do allow all Tibetans born in India during 1950-1987 to get voting rights. Around 1,000 Tibetan voters are registered in Dharamsala region alone, and with the highest number of candidates in the fray, this small pocket of voters can easily play a decisive role in the tough contest.
15:28 (IST)
This is what the outgoing House looked like
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.
14:54 (IST)
Congress' Vidya Stokes could have been the oldest candidate in the fray
Stokes, 89, would have been the oldest contestant if she had remained in the electoral fray. However, the Election Commission had rejected her nomination papers, citing discrepancy in documents. An eight time legislator, and Himachal Pradesh's Irrigation and Public Health Minister, Stokes represented Theog constituency in the outgoing House.
She is the daughter-in-law of American missionary Satyanand Stokes.
14:47 (IST)
Senior Congress leader Vidya Stokes cast her vote a polling booth in Shimla's Barubag
14:45 (IST)
Independent India's first voter, 100-year-old Shyam Saran Negi castes his vote at Kalpa
Negi is hundred-and-one-years old and was 35 when the independent India went to polls for the first time. His wrinkled forehead and hollow cheeks may show signs of aging, but his enthusiasm to participate in yet another democratic exercise in his home state remains unsullied.
Negi says that he speaks on the basis of his health at this very moment. "You never know what might happen tomorrow," he says, adding, "sometimes even I don't know if I will see another day." Negi appeals to everyone, especially the youth, to come out and vote in large numbers.
14:31 (IST)
54.09% polling in Himachal Pradesh Elections till 2 pm
14:15 (IST)
Demonetisation, or Rs 1500, may cost BJP at least this one vote in Himachal
Demonetisation may cost the BJP at least this one vote in Himachal Pradesh. Staying in the Great Himalayan National Park alone, octogenarian Chatri Devi is determined to vote against demonetisation as her three banknotes are no good. Her grudge is that could not replace her three old banknotes of Rs 500 each after last year's denomination. "She is really upset with the BJP," her grandson Gumat Ram told IANS.
She showed three banknotes of Rs 500 each, which she couldn't change as the government didn't extend the deadline for exchanging demonetised currency notes beyond 30 December last year.
Chatri Devi, 83, lives all alone in the Unesco-tagged Great Himalayan National Park, one of the richest biodiversity sites in the western Himalayas, in the picturesque Kullu Valley. Park authorities say she is the only person living in the park that is spread over 754 sq km.
13:53 (IST)
101-year-old Gauri Devi casts her vote in Kullu
13:24 (IST)
Kinnaur records its highest ever voting percentage
By 12 pm, Kinnaur district recorded its highest ever voting percentage of 35 percent, reported The Indian Express.
13:19 (IST)
Himachal votes for a new Assembly
Voting is underway in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh where the BJP, which focused on corruption during its campaign, is seeking to dislodge the Virbhadra Singh-led Congress government while deflecting attacks by rivals on demonetisation and GST.
A total of 337 candidates, including 60 sitting MLAs, are contesting for power over the 68-member legislative assembly of Himachal Pradesh, one of the very few states under Congress control.
The Himachal Pradesh results along with that of the BJP-ruled Gujarat will be a bellwether of Prime Minister Narendra Modis popularity. - PTI
13:04 (IST)
'Himachal is with progress, Himachal is with Congress'
13:03 (IST)
A groom in Manali decides to cast vote first and then getting married
12:57 (IST)
Here's a look at past Assembly election results in Himachal Pradesh
12:53 (IST)
Straight contest in one constituency
There is a straight contest only in one constituency (Jhanduta) while the maximum number of 12 candidates is in fray in Dharamsala.
12:33 (IST)
Queue outside Kalpa polling booth in Kinnaur
12:32 (IST)
28.8 percent polling recorded till 12 pm in Himachal Pradesh
12:11 (IST)
Polling delayed in Sirmaur district because of faulty VVPAT machines
PTI reported that the polling in Sirmaur district was delayed by 15-20 minutes because of faulty VVPAT machines.
12:01 (IST)
Country's first voter Shyam Saran Negi casts his vote at Kalpa polling station
Negi is hundred and one years old and was 35 when the independent India went to polls for the first time.
11:55 (IST)
Women in rural areas turned out in large numbers
Women in the rural areas turned out in large numbers to cast their vote. Voting began on a dull note, with below five percent polling in the first hour. By 10 am, it rose to 13 percent. - IANS
11:49 (IST)
'All indicators bespeak the shining vibrancy of Himachal under Congress'
11:44 (IST)
Shimla MLA and BJP candidate Suresh Bhardwaj after casting his vote
11:41 (IST)
Reports of glitches in VVPAT machines
There are reports of glitches in VVPAT machines from over a dozen polling booths across the state.
11:32 (IST)
Union minister JP Nadda casts his vote in Bilaspur
11:27 (IST)
A look at Congress and BJP's vote share in Himachal Pradesh over the years
11:25 (IST)
Breakup of voting percent till 10 am
According to The Indian Express, this is the vote breakup for the first two hours
Shimla: 16 percent
Kasumpti: 22 percent
Chaupal: 15 percent
Rampur: 18 percent
11:14 (IST)
Lahaul-Spiti records 9 percent polling till 10 am
Tribal district Lahaul-Spiti recorded nine percent polling till 10 am, reported Hindustan Times
11:12 (IST)
VVPAT machine in Sujanpur not working
VVPAT machine in Ree polling booth of Hamirpur’s Sujanpur is not working, reported Hindustan Times.
11:10 (IST)
A look at how political parties fared in Himachal Pradesh Election, 2012
11:04 (IST)
Shimla records 16 percent polling till 10 am
11:02 (IST)
Narendra Modi urges Himachal to vote in record numbers
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the people of Himachal Pradesh to come out and vote in "record numbers" for the assembly election underway in the state.
10:56 (IST)
Prem Kumar Dhumal after casting his vote
10:54 (IST)
13.77 percent polling recorded till 10 am in Himachal Pradesh
10:41 (IST)
Virbhadra Singh, PK Dhuman shifted their constituencies
Both Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Dhumal have shifted their constituencies and are contesting from Arki and Sujanpur.
10:29 (IST)
Virbhadra Singh says the days to come will see new breakthrough in development
10:24 (IST)
A look at Congress and BJP candidates contesting the Himachal elections
10:18 (IST)
BJP workers stage protest in Bilaspur district
BJP workers staged a protest at Telag polling booth of Bilaspur district, alleging that the EVM button for the BJP candidate was not working, according to The Times of India
10:16 (IST)
EVMs not working at Jagatsukh, Larakeloncand Solang
The Times of India reported that EVMs are not working at Jagatsukh, Solang polling booths.