Himachal Pradesh polls on Nov 12, results on Dec 8

New Delhi: Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh will be held in a single phase on November 12, the Election Commission announced on Friday.

Counting of votes will be done on December 8.

ECI said notification for elections will be issued on October 17. October 25 will be the last day for filling nomination forms, scrutiny of nomination would be done on October 27 and October 29 is the last day for withdrawing nominations.

Himachal assembly has 68 seats. At present, BJP has 45 MLAs, while Congress has 20.

Making the announcement, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said there are over 55 lakh voters in Himachal Pradesh out of whom 1,184 are centenarians.

“We reached out to each one of them, some of them have not missed a single election in these 75 years,” he said.

Postal ballots will be available for those over 80 years of age, persons with disabilities and Covid patients.

He also said vigilance is being maintained regarding the Covid situation, even as it's not a major threat as last two years.

The ECI did not announce dates for Gujarat assembly polls, which are also due. Sources said Gujarat polls will be announced after Diwali. (UNI)