Setback For AAP In Himachal, Spokesperson Gaurav Sharma Quits After Being Denied Poll Ticket

AAP has released its second list of 54 candidates for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.

AAP State Spokesperson Gaurav Sharma (Source: ABP)

New Delhi: After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced its second list of 54 candidates for the elections to the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly on Thursday, the AAP State Spokesperson Gaurav Sharma has resigned after his name was not included in the recently announced list by the party. In the list, the party has expressed confidence in 54 candidates including Sher Singh Shera Negi from the Kullu seat, Shishikant from Chamba, Shyamlal from Mandi and Anil Rana from Sujanpur. 

Till now the Aam Aadmi Party has declared candidates for a total of 58 seats. The party is contesting all the 68 assembly seats in the state and is expected to announce candidates for 10 seats soon.

Earlier, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list of 62 candidates and has given place to 19 new faces in it. State BJP President Suresh Kashyap said in a statement that out of the 62 candidates announced in the party's first list, 19 are new faces, who are trying their luck for the first time. It is known that on Tuesday, Congress released its first list of candidates.

The assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh are to be held on November 12. The counting of votes will take place on December 8. The BJP has 43 members in the current assembly, while the Congress has 22 members. The house also has two independents and one member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). 

According to the Election Commission, the total number of voters in the state are 5507261. In which male voters are 2780208 and female voters are 2727016.

Following Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur earlier this year, all eyes are on Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh as they would undergo polls before the year-end.

The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party in both states is expected to retain its power as per the ABP-CVoter survey.