BJP-Congress lock horns as Himachal Pradesh goes to polls tomorrow
Right from the date of announcement of the elections, the state was in the news as the two traditional political rivals – BJP and Congress are locked in a straight contest in all the 68 constituencies.
There are 337 candidates including 62 sitting MLAs who are trying their luck at the hustings. Among the prominent contestants are incumbent chief minister Virbhadra Singh, 10 of his cabinet colleagues, 8 chief parliamentary secretaries, deputy speaker Jagat Singh Negi, BJP’s chief Ministerial candidate Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, and over a dozen former ministers.
The ruling Congress and main rival BJP are contesting all the 68 seats while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded its candidates in 42, followed by CP(I)M 14, Swabhiman Party, and Lok Gathbandhan Party 6 each and the CPI is contesting 3 seats.
During the 12-day high-voltage campaign stalwarts from both the parties including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and others addressed the election rallies appealing people to vote for their respective parties.
Corruption, as expected was the main focus of campaign by the BJP. The party leaders including Modi and Shah targeted incumbent chief minister Virbhadra Singh. On the other hand, the Congress trained its guns against the BJP on the issues of GST and Demonetization.
Dharmshala has the maximum 12 candidates while in Jhanduta constituency the contest is straight. Sensing the change in direction of political winds, some prominent Congress leaders had joined the BJP four of whom were given the candidature by the party. The party has also given its ticket to one independent candidate from Chopal.
There are 19 women in the fray including six fielded by the BJP and three by the Congress while seven rebels each of BJP and Congress are also contesting the polls.
The Congress and the BJP have strength of 35 and 28 respectively in the state assembly of 68 at present in addition to four independents. One seat is vacant.
Over 180 independents and a dozen rebels of the Congress including former ministers Singhi Ram (Rampur) and Vijay Singh Mankotia (Shahpur) are in the fray.
The State Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements hold free and fair and peaceful elections in the state. There are 7525 polling booths for the 50,25,941 voters of the state. 37,605 polling personnel have been deputed to manage these polling booths.
Besides 17,850 personnel of police and Home Guards and 65 companies of central paramilitary force have been deployed, Chief Electoral Officer Pushpender Rajput said.
PTI reported that web-casting would be used in 2,307 polling stations in the state for live monitoring of polling activities in the state by ECI and polling would be held from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm.
He said 983 polling stations had been declared vulnerable and 399 as critical to ensure free and fair elections in the State. The maximum numbers of vulnerable polling stations are 297 in Kangra district and minimum two in Kinnaur district, he added.
The Chief Electoral Officer said the state has 100 per cent Photo Identity Card (EPIC) holders and 7525 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) are being used.
VVPAT machines are being used for the first time in this Vidhan Sabha Election and 10 per cent of total EVMs and VVPATs have been kept in reserve.
He said the Hikkim polling station in Lahaul and Spiti Assembly Constituency, which is situated at a maximum height of 14567 feet, has 194 voters while Ka polling booth in Kinnaur has minimum of six voters.