Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, 2017

Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly election, 2017

9 November 2017
All 68 seats in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly 35 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	74%
Majority party Minority party   Leader Prem Kumar Dhumal Virbhadra Singh Party BJP INC Leader since 2017 1983 Leader's seat Sujanpur (lost) Arki[1] Last election 26 36 Seats won 44 21 Seat change 18 15 Popular vote 1,846,432 1,577,450 Percentage 48.8% 41.7% Swing 10.33% 1.11%
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 previous Legislative Assembly ended on 7 January 2018. Since 2013, the Indian National Congress Party was in power in 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.^[2] 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 number of votes wins the seat regardless of 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 ruling Indian National Congress and the opposition 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 have 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 their Chief Ministerial candidate. Dhumal lost his seat from Sujanpur constituency.

Preparations for elections

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.^[3] Over 5 million voters are registered in the state.^[4] VVPAT slips were counted in 2 polling stations each across all 68 Himachal Pradesh constituencies.^[5]

India's first voter, Shyam Saran Negi, has voted for the 29th time at Kalpa polling station in Kinnaur.^[6] The state also has India's highest polling station at Hikkim, and the polling station with the least number of voters (six) at Ka in Kinnaur.^[7]

Tibetan voters

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

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

Schedule

Opinion polls

Results

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	10.3	44	18
	Indian National Congress (INC)	1,577,450	41.7	1.1	21	15
	Independents	239,989	6.3	6.1	2	3
	Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M))	55,558	1.5	0.1	1	1
	Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)	18,540	0.5	0.7	0
	Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP)	N/A		2.4	0	1
	None of the Above (NOTA)	34,232	0.9	0.9	N/A
Total			100.00		68	±0

References