New Delhi: Ahead of Assembly elections in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, 92 candidates who had submitted their papers for the contest withdrew their nomination, leaving a total of 413 candidates in fray now, sources told ABP News. The last date for filing nominations was October 25 and the date for scrutiny of nominations was still October 27. Candidates were allowed to withdraw their candidature till October 29.
The most number of candidates in the contest are in Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur’s home district Mandi’s Joginder Nagar seat with 11 candidates.
A total of 551 candidates had filed their nomination out of which 46 candidates were pruned following scrutiny of their papers. The remaining 505 had qualified but the number of total candidates contesting the election came to 413 after 92 candidates withdrew their names.
Of the 413 candidates, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party has 68 candidates each fielded in every constituency.
Maximum 11 candidates are in the fray from Joginder Nagar Assembly constituency of the Chief Minister’s home district Mandi. While minimum 3-3 candidates are contesting from Churah, Lahaul Spiti and Darang hinting towards a direct competition between BJP, Congress and AAP, as per sources. At many places, independents can pose a threat to Congress and BJP by disrupting the vote equation.
The ruling BJP is facing rebel candidates in three of 10 seats after 11 candidates withdrew their papers in Mandi. Currently, 67 candidates are in the fray in Mandi, reported news agency PTI.
The rebel BJP candidates in the district are Gian Chand from Nachan, former minister Roop Singh’s son Abhishek Thakur from Sundernagar and Parveen Sharma from Mandi.
Meanwhile, rebel Congress candidate Lal Singh Kaushal withdrew his name from the Nachan seat, from where he unsuccessfully contested on the party ticket last time.
AAP rebel Gaurav Sharma withdrew his papers from Shimla (Urban) seat and announced support for BJP candidate Sanjay Sood, as per the PTI report.
50 candidates were left in Shimla district after eight candidates withdrew their nominations.
A total of 90 candidates remained in fray in Kangra district which has maximum 15 seats as 25 candidates withdrew their names on the last day of withdrawal of candidature.
The state goes to poll on November 12 and the results will be announced on December 8
(With inputs by Parakram)