Amidst a tight contest, the counting of votes for the 68-member BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh Assembly began on Thursday morning with tight security arrangements.
The high-stake election was held on November 12, sealing the electoral fate of 412 candidates, including 24 women. A 75.60 per cent voter turnout was recorded, breaking the 2017 record of 75.57 per cent.
Take a look at the Election Highlights where all the three leading parties are clashing with each other in terms of public’s democracy and flexibility and they will only decide who will be in the position.
The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. at 68 centres in 59 locations.
The results will decide the political fate of BJP leader and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and his 10 ministerial colleagues, besides Congress Legislature Party Leader Mukesh Agnihotri and former state Congress chief Sukhwinder Sukhu.
Thakur led his campaign with the slogan ‘rivaj badlega’ (electoral traditions will change) as BJP governments have repeated in the recent Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana polls.
This small hill state has not seen any incumbent party returning to power since 1985. Since then both archrivals — the Congress and the BJP — ruled the state alternatively in eight terms.
With elections contested under the leadership of Thakur, who is in fray from Seraj Assembly constituency from where he won elections for five consecutive terms from 1998 onwards, BJP chief J.P. Nadda during campaigning has announced that if the party wins, he will be the Chief Minister.
However, most exit poll surveys have predicted a tight contest between the incumbent BJP and the opposition Congress, with the former holding slight edge.
They predicted the maximum the BJP could get in the state is 40, just six seats more than the half-way mark of 34 in the 68-member House.
Aaj Tak has predicted 26-31 seats for the Congress, the BJP is projected to win 24-34 seats. India TV-Matrize has projected Congress to win 26-31 seats in the state, while the BJP too is likely to bag 26-31 seats.
Gujarat Assembly polls
Counting of ballots cast in the Gujarat Assembly elections started on Thursday across 37 centres amid tight security.
For the first half an hour, ballot paper votes will be counted.
Counting of EVM votes will begin from 8.30 a.m.
Candidates with their supporters and counting agents have reached the stations.
Chief Electoral Officer P. Bharathi said a total of 3,16,06,968 votes will be counted. There are 3 centers, Surat (2), Anand (2), and in rest all districts counting will take place one center each.
She added that there are 182 counting observers, 182 election officers, 494 assistant elections officers, 78 additional elections officers, 71 additional election officers Electronically Transmitted Postal ballot system.
All counting centres are equipped with CCTV cameras.
Out of a total 4,91,35,400 eligible voters, 64.33 per cent cast their ballots, of which 1,69,26,152 were men and 1,46,80,371 women.
In the 2017 general elections, 2,94,64,326 votes were polled, with a voter turnout of 68.39 per cent, of which BJP polled 1,47,24,031, 49.05 per cent votes and 99 seats, whereas Congress polled 1,24,37,661 votes, 41.44 per cent and 77 seats.
Himachal poll results will decide fate of BJP’s Thakur, Congress’ Agnihotri & Sukhu
As most exit poll surveys have predicted a tight contest between the incumbent BJP and the opposition Congress, with the former holding slight edge, the Thursday Assembly results in Himachal Pradesh will decide the fate of many senior leaders of both the parties.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is in the fray for the first time in the Assembly polls, has been missing from the state with its leaders focusing on strengthening its vote bank in Gujarat.
Despite AAP presence, the political scenario in the state seems so far largely bipolar — a tug-of-war between the two conventional archrivals — the Congress and the saffron party.
Sensing a neck-and-neck contest between the BJP and the Congress, rebels, who had broken ties with the mainstream parties, have started holding ‘in-door’ parleys with a belief that in politics there is no permanent enemy or friend.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main Opposition Congress have also begun an exercise to keep its numbers in ‘order’ in case of hung House.
Insiders told IANS that leaders of both parties were trying to sink their differences with the party rebels, whose numbers are nearly 20, to improve the party’s prospects.
The fear of exodus of lawmakers from the Congress is high.
The result will decide the fate of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, 57, who is in the fray from his stronghold Seraj from where he has won five consecutive elections — 1998, 2003, 2007, 2012 and 2017.
With elections contested under his leadership, BJP chief J.P. Nadda has announced that if the party wins, Thakur will be the chief minister.
Thakur’s outgoing Cabinet colleague Suresh Bhardwaj, 70, is in fray from his new battleground Kasumpti, adjoining his stronghold Shimla (Urban).
He’s a four-time legislator and facing the toughest battle of his career after his constituency was shifted from Shimla (Urban) to Kasumpti at the last minute.
Virender Kanwar, another BJP leader, is in fray from stronghold Kutlehar in Una district. He is contesting for the fifth time. He has never lost an election from Kutlehar.
The other prominent BJP faces are Ramlal Markandey from Lahaul-Spiti (Scheduled Tribe reserved seat); Govind Singh Thakur from Manali; Anil Sharma from Mandi; former state chief Satpal Singh Satti from Una; former health minister Rajeev Bindal from Nahan; and outgoing Health Minister Rajiv Saizal from Kasauli (Scheduled Caste reserved seat).
The prominent Congress leaders who are trying their luck are former health minister Kaul Singh Thakur, 76, from Darang in Mandi district; journalist-turned-politician Mukesh Agnihotri, 60, from Haroli, the seat he represented thrice — 2007, 2012 and 2017 and is seen as the prospective Chief Minister; former state party chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, 58, from Nadaun, the seat he represented thrice in Hamirpur district; former urban development minister Sudhir Sharma from Dharamsala; Asha Kumari from Dalhousie, which she has represented six times — 1985, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2007 and 2017; ARajinder Singh Rana from Sujanpur; and Col. Dhani Ram Shandil, 82, from Solan.
Political observers told IANS the ruling BJP has managed an edge over its seemingly somnolent rival Congress by holding a statewide campaign with back-to-back public meetings by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party’s national leadership comprising Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, J.P. Nadda and Anurag Thakur.
The Congress, however, largely banked on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is currently staying in her cottage on the suburbs of Shimla to keep close tabs on political state developments.
Chief Minister Thakur led his campaign with the slogan ‘rivaj badlega’ (electoral traditions will change) as the BJP governments have repeated in the recent Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana polls.
This small hill state has not seen any incumbent party returning to power since 1985. Since then both archrivals — the Congress and the BJP — ruled the state alternatively in eight terms.
However, most exit poll surveys have predicted a tight contest between the incumbent BJP and the opposition Congress, with the former holding slight edge.
They predicted the maximum the BJP could get in the state is 40, just six seats more than the half-way mark of 34 in the 68-member House.
The saffron party had won 44 of the 68 Assembly seats in 2017 with a vote share of 48.8 per cent, up from 38.47 per cent in 2012.
Its rival the Congress won 21 seats with a vote share of 41.7 per cent in 2017, down from 43 per cent in 2012.
Dimple Yadav leads in Mainpuri
Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Dimple Yadav is leading with 4,800 votes after the third round of counting in Mainpuri.
She has established a lead over her nearest rival Raghuraj Shakya of the BJP.
BJP spokesman Harish Chandra Srivastava said that it was too early to make any statement and the party was confident of wresting the seat from SP.
The by-election to the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat was declared vacant following the demise of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav.
BJP leads in Gujarat, tough fight with Congress in Himachal
An hour after the counting of votes began for the Assembly elections, the BJP is leading in both Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, as per the latest trends.
In Gujarat around 9.44 a.m., the official Election Commission website showed that the BJP was leading on 98 Assembly seats while the Congress was leading in 17 constituencies and the AAP was leading on 10 seats.
The counting began in Gujarat across 37 centres amid tight security at 8 a.m. In the 2017 general elections in Gujarat, 2,94,64,326 votes were polled with a voter turnout of 68.39 per cent. Of this BJP had polled 1,47,24,031 with a vote share of 49.05 per cent and had won 99 seats. The Congress had polled 1,24,37,661 votes with a vote share of 41.44 per cent and 77 seats.
Early trends clearly show that the AAP on a large-scale is denting the Congress votes. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghvi were leading and Congress’ senior leader Arjun Modhwadia was also leading.
In Himachal Pradesh, it is a close fight between the BJP and Congress. As per the latest trends, the BJP was leading in 31 Assembly constituencies while the Congress was leading on 23 seats. Independents were leading on three seats.
The Himachal Pradesh high-stake election was held on November 12, sealing the electoral fate of 412 candidates, including 24 women. A 75.60 per cent voter turnout was recorded, breaking the 2017 record of 75.57 per cent.
The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. at 68 centres in 59 locations in Himachal Pradesh.
The results will decide the political fate of BJP leader and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and his 10 ministerial colleagues, besides Congress Legislature Party leader Mukesh Agnihotri and former state Congress chief Sukhwinder Sukhu.
Neck & neck for BJP, Congress in Himachal
As Himachal Pradesh has not returned any incumbent government to power in nearly four decades, early trends of ballot count of the first two hours on Thursday indicated ‘see-sawing’ trends with both the ruling BJP and the main Opposition Congress in the 68-member Assembly were neck and neck.
Trends at around 10.15 a.m. showed that the Congress was leading in 31 seats with the BJP on equal number. Four independents were also leading from their respective constituencies.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, 57, was leading in his stronghold Seraj in Mandi district. Likewise, Congress prominent leaders Mukesh Agnihotri, 60, and Sukhvinder Sukhu, 58, were leading from Haroli and Nadaun seats respectively.
As most exit poll surveys have predicted a tight contest between the incumbent BJP and the opposition Congress, with the former holding a slight edge, the results will decide the fate of many senior leaders of both the parties.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is in the fray for the first time in the Assembly polls, has been missing from the state with its leaders focusing on strengthening its vote bank in Gujarat.
Despite AAP presence, the political scenario in the state seems so far largely bipolar — a tug-of-war between the two conventional archrivals — the Congress and the saffron party.
Sensing a neck and neck contest between the BJP and the Congress, rebels, who had broken ties with the mainstream parties, have started holding ‘in-door’ parleys with a belief that in politics there is no permanent enemy or friend.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main Opposition Congress have also begun an exercise to keep its numbers in ‘order’ in case of hung House.
Insiders told IANS that leaders of both parties were trying to sink their differences with the party rebels, whose numbers are nearly 20, to improve the party’s prospects.
The fear of exodus of lawmakers from the Congress was high.
