LIVE UPDATES: ABP Exit Poll of Himachal Pradesh (West)

Images: PTI/ File

NEW DELHI: Recent snowfall in Himachal Pradesh may have been able to bring down the temperature but the political mercury is all set to rise in the state as the date of counting of votes is inching closer. The polling for all 68 constituencies in the state was held on November 9 and the results will be declared on December 18 along with that of Gujarat elections. BJP to sweep Himachal Pradesh with 38 seats, predicts ABP Exit Poll Vote share percentage in Himachal Pradesh (West) BJP is likely to get 49% vote share while Congress to get 48%. Others are securing just 3 here. Political observers had predicted a neck and neck contest between the BJP and the Congress as there was no clear wave in favour of any party. It was also a do-or-die battle for both the Chief Ministerial faces, struggling for their political survival. One is veteran Congress leader and incumbent Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, 83, who is pushing hard to get to the helm for a seventh time. The other is the BJP's Prem Kumar Dhumal, 73, who is making a strong bid to ensure the party's win with a record margin to silence his detractors within the party. The Congress had won 36 of the 68 seats in Himachal Pradesh in 2012 with a 42.81 per cent vote share, while the BJP bagged 26 seats with a 38.47 per cent vote share. In the 2012 assembly elections, the poll percentage figure was over 75 per cent, the highest since 1977, while it was 68.36 per cent in 2007.