Guwahati: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unveiled its initial list of 62 candidates for the elections in Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday.
The chief minister Jai Ram Thakur is running for the Seraj assembly district on behalf of the party. The party replaced the seats of Suresh Bharadwaj and Rakesh Pathania, two ministers and ousted 11 current MLAs including one who served in the government.
Rajat Thakur, the minister’s son and a Dharampur MLA, has taken over for Mahendra Singh. Chetan Bragta of Jubbal-Kotkhai who ran in the by-election as an independent after the BJP denied him a ticket, has now been fielded by the party. According to rumours, Sukh Ram’s son Anil Sharma has been fielded from Mandi.
In some previous elections, the BJP avoided running candidates who were older than 75. Only three seats are designated for members of the “ST category,” although eight candidates who are members of Scheduled Tribes are on the list.
Graduates and postgraduates make up about two-thirds of the candidates who are suggested.
While opposition Congress has identified three women among the 46 candidates it has so far disclosed the list also includes five female candidates.
The Central Election Committee of the BJP, which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders, finalised the party’s list on Monday. The deadline for submitting nominations is October 25, and the state’s assembly elections are planned on November 12.