Himachal Pradesh Assembly election LIVE COVERAGE
- 55% voting till 2pm
- 28.6% voting till 12 pm
- 13.72% polling recorded in first two hours of Himachal Pradesh elections
- Confident of getting majority in the election, the next government too will be of Congress: Virbhadra Singh (9:50 am)
- We aimed to get 50 plus seats but now that we are receiving so much support from all sections of the society, we expect it to cross 60: Prem Kumar Dhumal, BJP's CM candidate
- Voting for Himachal Pradesh Assembly election begins (8:00 am)
- 11,500 Himachal Pradesh police jawans, 6400 Home guards, 65 companies of paramilitary forces deployed across the state for the assembly election (7:53 am)
- Himachal Pradesh Assembly election to take place, polling for all the 68 constituencies will begin at 8:00 am and go on till 5:00 pm (7:23 am)
The high-octane campaign for Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections marked by acrimonious exchanges
between the two contenders for power--the state's ruling Congress and main opposition BJP--ended on Tuesday.
The BJP announced Prem Kumar Dhumal as its chief ministerial face just a week ago. The saffron party's campaign was virtually spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who lacerated the Congress over corruption, while Rahul Gandhi mounted a spirited counteroffensive, targeting the Centre over note ban and the GST.
The 73-year-old Dhumal, a two-term chief minister, is seeking to thwart the Congress's chief ministerial candidate Virbhadra Singh's record seventh shot at power.
Himachal Pradesh Assembly election 2017: Interesting Facts
- A total of 50,25,941 voters are eligible to cast their vote
- 7,525 polling booths have been set up in the state
- 37,605 polling personnel have been deputed for poll duty
- 17,850 personnel of police and Home Guards and 65 companies of central paramilitary force have been deployed
- Ruling Congress led by the chief minister and the BJP led with former chief minister Dhumal are contesting on all 68 seats
- BSP is contesting on 42 seats
- CPI(M) 14, Swabhiman Party and Lok Gathbandhan Party six each and the CPI-3
- The 12-days high-voltage campaign saw over 450 rallies by star campaigners of the BJP and the Congress
- There is straight contest only in one constituency (Jhanduta)
- The maximum number of 12 candidates is in fray in Dharamsala
- BJP has fielded four Congressmen including former minister Anil Sharma
- BJP has also given ticket to on Independent from Chopal
- Congress had fielded two independents from Paonta Sahib and Kangra
- Both CM Virbhadra Singh and Dhumal have shifted their constituencies and are contesting from Arki and Sujanpur, respectively.