The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) released a list of star campaigners for the upcoming assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh on Friday. The list includes the names of senior BJP leaders ranging from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Party Chief J P Nadda, news agency ANI reported.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, State Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Uttarkhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, and Karnataka MP Tejasvi Surya are among those on the list.
Earlier on Thursday, the party had released its second list of six candidates for the assembly elections which are to be held on November 12.
The party had fielded Ramesh Dhawala from Dehra, Ravinder Singh Ravi from Jawalamukhi, Maheshwar Singh from Kullu, Maya Sharma from Barsar, Ram Kumar from Haroli, and Kaul Negi from Rampur.
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On Wednesday morning, the party released its first list of 62 candidates. Nineteen of the 62 candidates named in the first list are newcomers who are trying their luck for the first time, according to state BJP president Suresh Kashyap in a statement, news agency PTI reported.
Among those given BJP tickets are five doctors and a retired IAS officer.
Dr Janak Raj, Senior Medical Superintendent at Shimla's IGMC Hospital, has received a ticket from Bharmaur. Rajesh Kashyap and Anil Dhiman, both allopathic doctors, have been selected from Solan and Bhoranj, respectively. Rajiv Saizal and Rajiv Bindal, both Ayurvedic doctors, were also given tickets on the first list.
J R Katwal, a retired IAS officer, is rerunning for the Jhanduta seat.
The first list of BJP candidates also included five women. Indira Kapoor received a ticket from Chamba for the first time.
The BJP currently has 43 members in the 68-member Assembly, while the Congress has 22. Two Independents and one CPI (M) MLA are present.
The Election Commission issued a notification for the state election on October 17, and the deadline for filing nominations is October 25. Papers will be scrutinised on October 27, with the deadline for withdrawal on October 29.
The voting will take place on November 12, and the counting will take place on December 8.
(With Inputs From Agencies)