NEW DELHI:  The election schedule for the state of Himachal Pradesh was announced by the Election Commission on Thursday.

The election will be held in a single phase on November 9. Counting of votes will be conducted on December 18.

Himachal Pradesh has 68 seats while Gujarat has 182.

Congress VP Rahul Gandhi last week announced that 83-year-old incumbent Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will be the party's chief ministerial candidate.

BJP had earlier said that it would announce names of its candidates for the 2017 Assembly poll after the schedule is notified. The party hasn’t announced its CM candidate also so far.

The term of the 68-member Himachal Pradesh's Assembly ends on January 7, 2018.