Himachal election dates will be announced today: EC's press conference at 3 pm, Gujarat dates can be announced after 20

The Election Commission has called a press conference at 3 pm on Friday. In this, the Election Commission will announce the dates for the Himachal Assembly elections. It was said in some reports that the dates for the Gujarat assembly elections can also be announced. Sources told Bhaskar that today the announcement will be made for Himachal only. The dates for Gujarat will be announced after October 20.

Himachal Vidhan Sabha's term ends on January 8

The term of the Himachal Vidhan Sabha ends on January 8. There is a total of 68 assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh. Of these, 20 seats are reserved. 17 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 3 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST). In 2017, the BJP formed the government by registering a victory with an absolute majority. In the election, the BJP won 44 seats and the Congress 21 seats. CPIM won one seat and independent candidates won two seats.

Who are the contenders for the post of CM?

The current Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur is the biggest contender from the BJP. If there is a big change like in 2017, then Union Minister Anurag Thakur can also become the face of CM. From Congress, Mukesh Agnihotri, Kaul Singh Thakur, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Ramlal Thakur, and Asha Kumari are included in the list of contenders.

The faces that were in 2017 are no more

While in power, Congress entered the electoral fray in the name of CM Virbhadra Singh. The party had to face defeat. Virbhadra Singh passed away in 2021. This time there are many contenders in Congress, but there is no consensus on any one name. Talking about the BJP, the party entered the electoral fray in the name of Prem Kumar Dhumal, in the pre-2017 elections.

The BJP high command gave a ticket to Dhumal from Sujanpur instead of Hamirpur and Dhumal lost the election from there. After this, the BJP high command made Jai Ram Thakur the CM.

4 issues most important, the effect of anti-incumbency also

This time 4 issues can affect the election in Himachal. These include the problem of employees, inflation, unemployment, and police paper leak case. Apart from this, anti-incumbency can also affect the government. In the by-elections held for three seats last year, the BJP was defeated in all the seats.

Modi took the front, and Priyanka's rally too

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a front on behalf of the BJP for the government repeat in Himachal. For the first time in Himachal, a Prime Minister is holding public meetings before the announcement of elections. There is suspense on Rahul Gandhi's rally on Bharat Jodo Yatra. Congress has therefore given Priyanka the responsibility of rallying in Himachal.

The term of the Gujarat Assembly ends on February 18

There is a total of 182 assembly seats in Gujarat. Of these, 40 seats are reserved. 13 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 27 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST). Talking about the 2017 elections, the BJP formed the government here by winning an absolute majority. BJP got 99 seats, and Congress had 77 seats in the election. Two seats went to the Indian Tribal Party, and one seat to the NCP. On the other hand, independents won 3 seats.

The big challenge for BJP in Gujarat: BJP has been in power in Gujarat for more than 25 years. Also, two big leaders of the party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are from Gujarat. In such a situation, the party is preparing to repeat the government here. However, it is not easy for the party to repeat the government this time. The party is on the back foot on the issue of employment and farmers. At the same time, there is also anti-incumbency against the party due to being in power for so many years.

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