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2017 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election

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2017 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election

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All 68 seats in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly
35 seats needed for a majority
Turnout75.57% (Increase2.06%)
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Prem_Kumar_Dhumal.jpg
Virbhadra Singh HP.jpg
Cpm election symbol.svg
Leader Prem Kumar Dhumal Virbhadra Singh Rakesh Singha
Party BJP INC CPI(M)
Leader since 1980 1983 2017
Leader's seat Sujanpur[1](lost) Arki[2] Theog
Last election 26 36 0
Seats won 44 21 1
Seat change Increase18 Decrease15 Increase1
Popular vote 1,846,432 1,577,450 55,558
Percentage 48.8% 41.7% 1.5%
Swing Increase10.33% Decrease1.11% Decrease0.1%

Seatwise Result Map of the election

Structure of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly after the election

Chief Minister before election

Virbhadra Singh
INC

Elected Chief Minister

Jai Ram Thakur
BJP

The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, 2017 was held on 9 November 2017 to elect all 68 members of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

The term of the previous Legislative Assembly ended on 7 January 2017. Since 2012, the Indian National Congress Party was in power in the outgoing assembly with 36 seats. The lone opposition party was Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Constitution of India states that the term of Legislative Assemblies is five years, at maximum. The term of current Legislative Assembly ends on 7 January 2018.[3] The previous election, held in 2012 resulted in Congress gaining majority of seats and Virbhadra Singh becoming Chief Minister.

Himachal Pradesh, as a state of India follows Parliamentary system of government similar to other states. The Government is responsible to the Assembly and stays in power only if it has the support of majority members. Elections take place on a first past the post basis, the candidate with the most votes wins the seat regardless of an absolute majority. Every citizen of the state, who is 18 and above is eligible to vote. The Governor then invites the leader of the largest party or coalition to form the government. As is common in most other first past the post electoral systems, the state's politics are dominated by two parties – the Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.

State elections in India are often fought on central issues, and the results are regarded as a referendum on the central government's policies. This is especially true in the case of states where the two national parties – Congress and BJP are in direct contest with each other. The state units of the parties are not completely independent and the central authority of the parties has a considerable influence over candidate selection and campaigning. However, state issues do tend to dominate the discourse. The Congress party has projected its current Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh as its Chief Ministerial candidate for the elections. BJP announced Prem Kumar Dhumal as its Chief Ministerial candidate. Dhumal, however, lost the election so eventually the BJP made Jai Ram Thakur the Chief Minister of state, who won from the Seraj constituency. In the 17th Assembly segment, Tashigang village becomes the highest polling station at an altitude of 15256 feet. The polling station falls in Buddhist-dominated Lahul-Spiti that form the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, the second-largest constituency in India. Situated at about 29 Kilometres from the India-China border, the polling station covers two villages - Tashigang and Gets. As per the revised electoral roll, the two villages have 48 Voters of which 30 are men and 18 women.

Preparations for elections

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VVPAT-fitted electronic voting machines were used in all of the 7,521 polling stations, the first time that the entire state will see the implementation of VVPAT to ensure greater transparency to the voter.[4] Over 5 million voters are registered in the state.[5] VVPAT slips were counted in 2 polling stations each across all 68 Himachal Pradesh constituencies.[6]

India's first voter, Shyam Saran Negi, voted for the 29th time at Kalpa polling station in Kinnaur.[7]

Group of voters Voters population
Male 2,531,321
Female 2,457,032
Third gender 169
Total voters 5,025,541

Tibetan voters

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Indian electoral rules allow any citizen of India above 18 years of age to vote in any states and union territories of India, provided he/she is a resident of that state. India has a large Tibetan diaspora that fled from Tibet along with the Dalai Lama. Dharamshala, a city in Himachal Pradesh, is the capital of the Central Tibetan Administration. The Government has allowed Tibetans born in India between 1950 and 1987 to vote in the elections. This however, does not affect their relationship with the CTA.[8][9]

Candidate list

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BJP declared list of 68 candidates on 18 October 2017 which includes 14 first timers with 21 new faces.[10]

Schedule

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Event Date Day
Date for nominations 16 October 2017 Monday
Last date for filing nominations 23 October 2017 Monday
Date for scrutiny of nominations 24 October 2017 Tuesday
Last date for withdrawal of candidatures 26 October 2017 Thursday
Date of poll 9 Nov 2017 Thursday
Date of counting 18 December 2017 Monday
Date before which the election shall be completed 20 December 2017 Wednesday

Opinion polls

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Polling firm/Commissioner Date published
BJP INC Others
India-Today (Axis) Opinion Poll[11] 24 October 2017 49%
43–47
38%
21–25
13%
0–2
ABP News CSDS[12] 30 October 2017 47%
39–45
41%
22–28
12%
0–3
C-Voter[13] 7 November 2017 50%
52
37%
15
11%
1

Results

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The results were declared on 18 December 2017.[14]

Summary of the 9 November 2017 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election results[15]
Parties and coalitions Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Won +/−
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 1,846,432 48.8 Increase10.3 44 Increase18
Indian National Congress (INC) 1,577,450 41.7 Decrease1.1 21 Decrease15
Independents 239,989 6.3 Decrease6.1 2 Decrease3
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) 55,558 1.5 Decrease0.1 1 Increase1
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 18,540 0.5 Decrease0.7 0 Steady
Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) Decrease2.4 0 Decrease1
None of the Above (NOTA) 34,232 0.9 Increase0.9
Total 37,84,658 100.00 68 ±0
Valid votes 37,84,658 99.64
Invalid votes 13,158 0.36
Votes cast / turnout 37,98,176 75.57
Abstentions 12,27,764 24.43
Registered voters 50,25,940

Results by District

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District wise map of Himachal Pradesh District Total Seats BJP INC OTH
Chamba

5

4 1 0
Kangra

15

11 3 1
Lahaul and Spiti

1

1 0 0
Kullu

4

3 1 0
Mandi

10

9 0 1
Hamirpur

5

2 3 0
Una

5

3 2 0
Bilaspur

4

3 1 0
Solan

5

2 3 0
Sirmaur

5

3 2 0
Shimla

8

3 4 1
Kinnaur

1

0 1 0
Total

68

44 21 3

Results by Constituency

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District # Constituency Winner[16] Runner-up Margin
Candidate Party Votes Candidate Party Votes
Chamba 1 Churah (SC) Hans Raj BJP 28,293 Surender Bhardwaj INC 23,349 4,944
2 Bharmour (ST) Jia Lal BJP 25,744 Thakur Singh Bharmouri INC 18,395 7,349
3 Chamba Pawan Nayyar BJP 26,763 Neeraj Nayar INC 24,884 1,879
4 Dalhousie Asha Kumari INC 24,224 D. S. Thakur BJP 23,668 556
5 Bhattiyat Bikram Singh Jaryal BJP 29,119 Kuldeep Singh Pathania INC 22,234 6,885
Kangra 6 Nurpur Rakesh Pathania BJP 34,871 Ajay Mahajan INC 28,229 6,642
7 Indora (SC) Reeta Devi BJP 29,213 Kamal Kishore INC 28,118 1,095
8 Fatehpur Sujan Singh Pathania INC 18,962 Kripal Singh Parmar BJP 17,678 1,284
9 Jawali Arjun Singh BJP 36,999 Chander Kumar INC 28,786 8,213
10 Dehra Hoshyar Singh Ind 24,206 Ravinder Singh Ravi BJP 20,292 3,914
11 Jaswan-Pragpur Bikram Singh BJP 23,583 Surinder Singh Mankotia INC 21,721 1,862
12 Jawalamukhi Ramesh Chand Dhawala BJP 27,914 Sanjay Rattan INC 21,450 6,464
13 Jaisinghpur (SC) Ravinder Kumar BJP 29,357 Yadvinder Goma INC 18,647 10,710
14 Sullah Vipin Singh Parmar BJP 38,173 Jagjiwan Paul INC 27,882 10,291
15 Nagrota Arun Kumar BJP 32,039 G S Bali INC 31,039 1,000
16 Kangra Pawan Kumar Kajal INC 25,549 Sanjay Chaudhary BJP 19,341 6,208
17 Shahpur Sarveen Choudhary BJP 23,104 Major (Ret.) Vijai Singh Mankotia Ind 16,957 6,147
18 Dharamshala Kishan Kapoor BJP 26,050 Sudhir Sharma INC 23,053 2,997
19 Palampur Ashish Butail INC 24,252 Indu Goswami BJP 19,928 4,324
20 Baijnath (SC) Mulkh Raj Premi BJP 32,102 Kishori Lal INC 19,433 12,669
Lahaul and
Spiti
21 Lahaul and Spiti (ST) Ram Lal Markanda BJP 7,756 Ravi Thakur INC 6,278 1,478
Kullu 22 Manali Govind Singh Thakur BJP 27,173 Hari Chand Sharma INC 24,168 3,005
23 Kullu Sunder Singh Thakur INC 31,423 Maheshwar Singh BJP 29,885 1,538
24 Banjar Surender Shourie BJP 28,007 Aditya Vikram Singh INC 24,767 3,240
25 Anni (SC) Kishori Lal BJP 30,559 Paras Ram INC 24,576 5,983
Mandi 26 Karsog (SC) Hira Lal BJP 22,102 Mansa Ram INC 17,272 4,830
27 Sundernagar Rakesh Kumar Jamwal BJP 32,545 Sohan Lal INC 23,282 9,263
28 Nachan (SC) Vinod Kumar BJP 38,154 Lal Singh Kaushal INC 22,258 15,896
29 Seraj Jai Ram Thakur BJP 35,519 Chet Ram INC 24,265 11,254
30 Darang Jawahar Thakur BJP 31,392 Kaul Singh INC 24,851 6,541
31 Jogindernagar Prakash Rana Ind 31,214 Gulab Singh Thakur BJP 24,579 6,635
32 Dharampur Mahender Singh BJP 27,931 Chandershekhar INC 15,967 11,964
33 Mandi Anil Sharma BJP 31,282 Champa Thakur INC 21,025 10,257
34 Balh (SC) Colonel Inder Singh BJP 34,704 Prakash Chaudhary INC 21,893 12,811
35 Sarkaghat Colonel Inder Singh BJP 30,705 Pawan Kumar INC 21,403 9,302
Hamirpur 36 Bhoranj (SC) Kamlesh Kumari BJP 27,961 Suresh Kumar INC 21,069 6,892
37 Sujanpur Rajinder Rana INC 25,288 Prem Kumar Dhumal BJP 23,369 1,919
38 Hamirpur Narinder Thakur BJP 25,854 Kuldeep Singh Pathania INC 18,623 7,231
39 Barsar Inder Dutt Lakhanpal INC 25,679 Baldev Sharma BJP 25,240 439
40 Nadaun Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu INC 30,980 Vijay Agnihotri BJP 28,631 2,349
Una 41 Chintpurni (SC) Balvir Singh BJP 32,488 Kuldip Kumar INC 23,909 8,579
42 Gagret Rajesh Thakur BJP 33,977 Rakesh Kalia INC 24,657 9,320
43 Haroli Mukesh Agnihotri INC 35,095 Ram Kumar BJP 27,718 7,377
44 Una Satpal Raizada INC 31,360 Satpal Singh Satti BJP 28,164 3,196
45 Kutlehar Virender Kanwar BJP 31,101 Vivek Sharma INC 25,495 5,606
Bilaspur 46 Jhanduta (SC) Jeet Ram Katwal BJP 29,030 Beeru Ram Kishore INC 24,068 4,962
47 Ghumarwin Rajinder Garg BJP 34,846 Rajesh Dharmani INC 24,411 10,435
48 Bilaspur Subhash Thakur BJP 31,547 Bumber Thakur INC 24,685 6,862
49 Sri Naina Deviji Ram Lal Thakur INC 28,119 Randhir Sharma BJP 27,077 1,042
Solan 50 Arki Virbhadra Singh INC 34,499 Rattan Singh Pal BJP 28,448 6,051
51 Nalagarh Lakhvinder Singh Rana INC 25,872 Krishan Lal Thakur BJP 24,630 1,242
52 Doon Paramjeet Singh Pammi BJP 29,701 Ram Kumar INC 25,382 4,319
53 Solan (SC) Dhani Ram Shandil INC 26,200 Rajesh Kashyap BJP 25,529 671
54 Kasauli (SC) Rajiv Saizal BJP 23,656 Vinod Sultanpuri INC 23,214 442
Sirmaur 55 Pachhad (SC) Suresh Kumar Kashyap BJP 30,243 Gangu Ram Musafir INC 23,816 6,427
56 Nahan Dr. Rajeev Bindal BJP 31,563 Ajay Solankey INC 27,573 3,990
57 Sri Renukaji (SC) Vinay Kumar INC 22,028 Balbir Singh BJP 16,868 5,160
58 Paonta Sahib Sukh Ram Chaudhary BJP 36,011 Kirnesh Jung INC 23,392 12,619
59 Shillai Harsh Wardhan Singh Chauhan INC 29,171 Baldev Singh BJP 25,046 4,125
Shimla 60 Chopal Balbir Singh Verma BJP 29,537 Subhash Chand Manglate INC 24,950 4,587
61 Theog Rakesh Singha CPM 24,791 Rakesh Verma BJP 22,808 1,983
62 Kasumpati Anirudh Singh INC 22,061 Vijay Jyoti BJP 12,664 9,397
63 Shimla Suresh Bhardwaj BJP 14,012 Harish Janartha Ind 12,109 1,903
64 Shimla Rural Vikramaditya Singh INC 28,275 Dr. Pramod Sharma BJP 23,395 4,880
65 Jubbal-Kotkhai Narinder Bragta BJP 27,466 Rohit Thakur INC 26,404 1,062
66 Rampur (SC) Nand Lal INC 25,730 Prem Singh Daraik BJP 21,693 4,037
67 Rohru (SC) Mohan Lal Brakta INC 29,134 Shashi Bala BJP 19,726 9,408
Kinnaur 68 Kinnaur (ST) Jagat Singh Negi INC 20,029 Tejwant Singh Negi BJP 19,909 120

References

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  1. ^ "CM-designate Dhumal loses in Sujanpur, Himachal Pradesh". The Hindu. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Virbhadra Singh files nomination from Arki constituency". The Economic Times. Press Trust of India. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Terms of the Houses". eci.nic.in. Election Commission of India/National Informatics Centre. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  4. ^ "The many firsts in Himachal Pradesh elections: VVPAT, disabled people and women to man 141 booths". 31 October 2017.
  5. ^ "One day poll in HP, result on December 18 | Shimla News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  6. ^ "In a first, EC to hold mandatory VVPAT count at one polling station of each constituency | India News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  7. ^ "At 100, India's first voter Shyam Negi keeps date with V-day". Hindustan Times. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Tibetans living in exile to vote first time in Himachal assembly elections". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  9. ^ "RK Nagar By-Election Results | Tamil Nadu Assembly By-poll 2017". OnManorama.
  10. ^ Verma, Gyan (19 October 2017). "BJP releases candidate list for Himachal elections". Mint. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Himachal Pradesh Opinion Poll: BJP all set for a big win, development the key issue". IndiaToday. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  12. ^ "BJP set to sweep Himachal Pradesh, may get 39–45 seats: ABP News opinion poll". ABP Live. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  13. ^ "C-Voter survey predicts thumping victory for BJP". Firstpost. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  14. ^ "Tale of two states: Gujarat trumps over Himachal Pradesh on NOTA votes | India News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  15. ^ The Hindu Net Desk (18 December 2017). "Himachal Pradesh Assembly election results — counting ends as BJP seals majority with 44 seats" – via www.thehindu.com.
  16. ^ The Indian Express (18 December 2017). "Himachal Pradesh election 2017: Full list of winners". Archived from the original on 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.