Himachal Pradesh Election - Assembly & Parliamentary Constituencies Elections in HP

A state situated at the extensive western Himalayas filled with the extensive river system, Himachal is unique in all its natural beauty and traditions. Himachal Pradesh is present in the northern part of India and has an area of 55,673 sq km. The state is known for its natural beauty and extensive tourism networks. The state has many Hindu pilgrimage sites also.

Divided in 12 districts, the state has a population of 6.85 million. There are 66 legislative assembly seats in the state. As the citizens have now used their power of voting in the 2022 Legislative Assembly Elections of Himachal Pradesh, results are awaited on 8th of December.

The main political parties in competition are Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress (INC), along with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Currently, BJP holds the power of the state under the leadership of the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. The citizens of the state has an insistence on a pattern of changing the government every next assembly elections.

Therefore, this 2022 elections results are highly anticipated on the basis of the previous trends as well as for some it is an expectation of change.

Government & Politics:

The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly or the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The present strength of the Vidhan Sabha is 68. Himachal Pradesh is the first state in India to launch a paperless legislative assembly known as eVidhan.
Himachal Pradesh has 4 parliamentary constituencies out of which 1 seat is reserved for a candidate belonging to scheduled caste. The state has 68 legislative assembly constituencies. The state contributes 3 seats to the upper house, the Rajya Sabha.

Administration:

Divisional administration:

The Indian state of Himachal Pradesh is made up of 12 administrative districts that are grouped into 3 divisions. Each division consists of 3-7 districts. The districts are further divided into 73 subdivisions, 78 blocks and 172 Tehsils. A divisional commissioner an officer of Indian Administrative service (IAS) is responsible for heading the administration of a division; the Divisional minister is also responsible for the collection of revenue and maintenance of law and order in his or her division.

District administration:

A district of an Indian state is an administrative geographical unit. The Indian state of Himachal Pradesh is made up of 12 administrative districts, headed by a district magistrate and collector, an IAS officer. The district magistrate is responsible for coordinating the work between various departments in the district, is responsible for law and order in the district and is also given the power of an executive magistrate.

Judiciary:

The judiciary in the Himachal Pradesh state consists of the Shimla High Court in Shimla, district courts and session courts in each district or Sessions Division, and lower courts at the tehsil level. Shimla is the administrative capital of the state. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 13 including the chief justice.
The President of India appoints the chief justice of the High Court of the Himachal Pradesh judiciary on the advice of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India as well as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Lingappa Narayana Swamy is currently serving as chief justice at shimla high court. Other judges are appointed by the President of India on the advice of the Chief Justice of the High Court.

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Elections 2017:

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 the previous Legislative Assembly ended on 7 January 2017. Since 2012, the Indian National Congress Party has been in power in the outgoing assembly with 36 seats. The lone opposition party was Bharatiya Janata Party.
Himachal Pradesh, as a state of India, follows a 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 votes wins the seat regardless of an 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 Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.
The tenure of the current legislative assembly in Himachal Pradesh expires in January 2018 hence Himachal Pradesh assembly election for the thirteenth assembly will be held in the state by December 2017. The Election Commission of India has announced the polling date for the Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly elections 2017. As per the announcement, the 2017 Himachal Pradesh assembly elections will be a single-phase election. According to the schedule released by the EC, polls for the Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly will be held on Nov 09, 2017. The counting of the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections 2017 will be done on the same day with the counting of Gujarat legislative assembly elections 2017 i.e Dec 18, 2017.
Himachal Pradesh was established in the year 1971 on January 25th. The capital city of this state is Shimla, which is the largest city of Himachal Pradesh. There are a total of 12 districts in Himachal Pradesh. The present Governor is Acharya Dev Vrat and the Chief Minister is Jai Ram Thakur, a BNP candidate. The parliamentary constituency of Himachal Pradesh is 4. The population of the state is 6,864,602 and the literacy level is 82.80%. Hindi is the official language of the state and English is the additional official language.
The state came under the direct governance of Indian judiciary immediately after independence and now it has a well-built political infrastructure. In 1948, it was given the status of Commissioner's Province; in 1950, it became Part C State and on January 25, 1971, it became a full state.
Though there are several local political parties the state is mainly dominated by these two national level parties; INC (Indian National Congress) and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). At present, the state is governed by Indian National Congress which came into power in 2012.

Lok Sabha Elections 2019

In 2009 Election Results the UPA won around 261 out of 543 seats, and in the second position was NDA with 158 seats, while 23 seats were won by Left parties.
In the 2014 Election Results the BJP won 282 seats out of 543 seats. This took the NDA tally to 336 seats out of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha. INC could only manage to win 44 seats and stayed in the second position while AIADMK party from Tamil Nadu came third with 37 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.
In 2019, the BJP is set to return to power at the Centre after a sweeping win in the 2019 Lok Sabha election , armed with a bigger mandate than in the 2014 General Election. The party - led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah duo has secured 303 seats in the 17th Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, the Congress, the main Opposition party, managed to increase its vote share from 2014 only by a handful of votes, with a final tally of 52 seats. There will be no Leader of Opposition in the upcoming Lower House for a second consecutive term.

Himachal Pradesh Legislature:

The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly or the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The present strength of the Vidhan Sabha is 68. Himachal Pradesh is the first state in India to launch a paperless legislative assembly known as eVidhan. The Vidhan Sabha building is located above Nabha. The building comes under Annadale Political Ward, i.e. Ward - 4 of Shimla Municipal Corporation.

Issues of state

Major issues that Himachal Pradesh currently faces:

Connectivity: Due to forest clearances, there are many areas in Himachal Pradesh which are still not connected with roads and people have migrated out from these areas in lack of health and education facilities. In recent elections, villages of Kangra and Chamba district who have no road connectivity have also boycotted polls. Himachal Pradesh has negligible air and rail links
Crime: Even as Himachal Pradesh has comparatively low rate of most cognizable crimes in 2018, it figures among states with the highest rate for certain crimes – especially those related to narcotic drugs, forest laws. Himachal has the third-highest crime rate among NDPS cases after Punjab (39.2) and Kerala (24.9). While several states have higher rates of crimes related to possession of drugs for personal consumption, Himachal has the third-highest crime rate of 12.8 when it comes to possession of drugs for trafficking, after Punjab (19.3) and Chandigarh (15.2).
Deforestation: For 90 per cent of Himachal's 46 lakh population living in villages, deforestation has brought misery and suffering. Fuel wood and fodder are rapidly disappearing. ... The state has taken several steps to begin reforestation designed to place Himachal under 50 per cent green cover within a decade.

About Himachal Pradesh Elections 2017

The tenure of the current legislative assembly in Himachal Pradesh expires in January 2018 hence Himachal Pradesh assembly election for the thirteenth assembly will be held in the state by December 2017. The Election Commission of India has announced the polling date for the Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly elections 2017. As per the announcement, the 2017 Himachal Pradesh assembly elections will be a single-phase election. According to the schedule released by the EC, polls for the Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly will be held on Nov 09, 2017. The counting of the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections 2017 will be done on the same day with the counting of Gujarat legislative assembly elections 2017 i.e Dec 18, 2017.

Himachal Pradesh was established in the year 1971 on January 25th. The capital city of this state is Shimla, which is the largest city of Himachal Pradesh. There are a total of 12 districts in Himachal Pradesh. The present Governor is Acharya Dev Vrat and the Chief Minister is Jai Ram Thakur, a BNP candidate. The parliamentary constituency of Himachal Pradesh is 4. The population of state is 6,864,602 and the literacy level is 82.80%. Hindi is the official languages of the state and English is the additional official language.

The state came under the direct governance of Indian judiciary immediately after independence and now it has the well-built political infrastructure. In 1948, it was given the status of Commissioner's Province; in 1950, it became Part C State and on January 25, 1971, it became a full state.

Though there are several local political parties the state is mainly dominated by these two national level parties; INC (Indian National Congress) and BJP (Bharitiya Janata Party). At prsent, the state is governed by Indian National Gongress which came into power in 2012.

Some facts about Elections in Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh has some interesting features associated with dates of poll, percentage of the electorate and service voter, photo identity card, computerization of Electoral roll, establishment of Polling stations, expenditure on elections and various other features.