Himachal Pradesh: 27 file nominations on last day for Assembly by-polls and Parliamentary elections

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], May 14 : On the final day for the submission of nominations in Himachal Pradesh, the State Election Department spokesperson informed that three candidates filed their papers for the Hamirpur Parliamentary Constituency (PC), seven for Mandi PC, six for Kangra PC, and one for the Shimla Lok Sabha seat. This brings the total number of candidates in Himachal Pradesh to 84.
Besides this, 10 filed their papers for Assembly Constituencies (ACs) where bye-elections are to be held. In total, 27 filed their nominations for both PC's and AC's, the spokesperson said.
As of today's deadline for nominations, a total of 33 candidates have officially filed for the bye-elections in six Assembly constituencies, while 51 candidates have submitted their papers for parliamentary elections. This brings the combined count to 84 contenders vying for seats in both the Parliament and Assembly. The scrutiny of these nomination papers is scheduled for May 15, starting at 11:00 am.
Five female candidates have officially entered the fray for the Lok Sabha elections, with one candidate each hailing from Kangra, Hamirpur, and Shimla, and two contenders from the Mandi parliamentary constituencies. Additionally, three female candidates have submitted their nominations for the bye-polls in the six assembly segments, with one candidate each representing Lahaul-Spiti, Sujanpur, and Gagret.
Male candidates vying for parliamentary elections are as follows: 13 from Kangra, 12 from Mandi, 14 from Hamirpur, and seven from Shimla constituencies.
In the Assembly bye-polls, nominations were submitted by five male candidates from Dharamshala, three from Lahaul-Spiti, seven from Sujanpur, three from Barsar, seven from Gagret, and five from Kutlehar.
From Mandi PC, Kangna Ranaut (37), filed her nomination papers from the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) for Mandi PC. Govind Singh Thakur (55) son of Kunj Lal Thakur, submitted his papers as a covering candidate from BJP.
Apart from this, Dinesh Kumar Bhati (56), Laik Ram Negi (60), Subhash Mohan Snehi (46), Rakhi Gupta (52), Sukh Ram (38) filed their papers as Independent candidates for Mandi PC.
From Hamirpur PC, Nand Lal (65), and Surendra Kumar (53), filed their nomination papers as Independent candidates. Meanwhile, Sumit (32) filed his papers from Akhil Bhartiya Parivar Party for Hamirpur PC.
From Kangra PC, Ashish Butail (44) also filed his papers from Congress as a covering candidate for Anand Sharma. Jeevan Kumar (34) filed his papers from the Akhil Bhartiya Parivar Party. Bhuvnesh Kumar (49) from the Rashtriya Devbhoomi Party filed his papers.
Similarly, Dev Raj (71) from Rashtriya Samaj Dal, Advocate Sanjay Sharma (56) and Sanjay Kumar Rana (54) submitted their papers as independent candidates for Kangra PC.
From Shimla Parliamentary seat, Kundan Lal Kashyap (65) submitted his papers as an independent candidate.
Vinod Sultanpuri of Congress additionally filed another set of nomination papers. Anil Kumar of Sirmour district also filed his additional set of nomination papers from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Both had filed nominations earlier as well.
Sudhir Sharma (52) filed his papers from BJP for Dharamshala by-polls. Devinder Singh (51) also submitted his papers as a candidate from Congress for the by-poll. Similarly, Suresh Kumar (62), also filed his nomination papers from Congress as a covering candidate for Devinder Singh.
From Gagret Assembly Constituency (AC), Chaitanya Sharma, (29) filed his nomination papers from the BJP. Apart from this, Amit Vashisht (46) and Ravinder Kumar (39) submitted their papers as independent candidates for Gagret bye-elections.
From Sujanpur AC, Rajinder Singh Verma (56) and Sher Singh (58) submitted their papers as independent candidates.
Subhash Singh Dhatwalia (60) filed his nomination from Congress for the Barsar by-poll. Another candidate, Vishal Kumar (38) also filed his papers as an independent candidate for Barsar.
Today, the Assembly constituencies of Lahaul Spiti and Kutlehar saw a lack of nominations, with no submissions recorded.
Polling in Himachal, which is scheduled for June 1, will not only pit candidates vying for Lok Sabha membership from four seats but also elect members for six assembly seats that fell vacant following the resignation and switchover of dissident Congress lawmakers.
The BJP, which won all four Lok Sabha constituencies in the state in the 2019 elections, is eyeing an encore this time.