After a series of political campaigns by the competing parties, the power is now with the people of Himachal Pradesh as they decide who will govern the hill state for the next five years.
As the state seals its fate, the major factor to look forward to is if Himachal will break the trend of anti-incumbency.
Voting will take place on November 12 in all the 68 constituencies in a one-phase election.
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Poll Schedule
Himachal Pradesh will begin voting from 8 am to 5 pm on Saturday. The Election Commission has set up a total of 7,884 polling stations including three in high altitude zones.
The highest booth is set up in the Spiti area of Lahaul Spiti district at a height of 15, 356 feet and caters to 52 voters.
The electoral roll
As per the electoral roll published by the Election Commission, over 55 lakh electors have registered in the state. Out of the total number of registered electors, around 55,000 are PwD electors, while over 1.22 lakh are senior citizens. Himachal will see 1.86 lakh first-time voters this year.
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Identification of voters at polling stations
For identification of voters at polling station, the voter shall present his Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) or identification documents approved by the Election Commission along with the photo voter slips. The additional documents can be your Aadhaar card, MNREGA job card, driving license, PAN card, passport, pension document, etc.
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Star campaigners
All eyes were on Himachal Pradesh with political parties doing multiple campaigns in the state. For the ruling BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led the campaign and was at the forefront of the task of appealing to the people of Himachal.
Apart from him, BJP president J P Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Yogi Adityanath also campaigned. With Rahul Gandhi busy with Bharat Jodo Yatra, Priyanka Gandhi was at the helm of campaigning for Congress. AAP which is a new entrant into the political dynamics of the hill state had Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia leading the campaign.
The CM faces in Himachal Pradesh
There are multiple contenders in the race to become the next CM of Himachal Pradesh. Arch rivals BJP and Congress are to contest the elections without a CM face. Congress has no dearth of prominent personalities in the state, the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee President and wife of six-time chief minister Virbahdra Singh, Pratibha Singh, Congress legislature party leader Mukesh Agnihotri, former president Sukhwinder singh Sukhu are the top contenders for Congress if it gets the majority in the state.
BJP has used the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his leadership for the state polls but it has indicated that it might stick with the current chief minister of Himachal Pradesh Jairam Thakur.
AAP has also chosen to not name a CM face. However, leaders like Rajan Sushant, Manish Thakur, Harmel Dhiman might make a dent in the bastion that has only remained with Congress or BJP.
Manifestos
The main issue raised by the BJP in its manifesto is the implementation of UCC. It also launched a separate Sankalp Patra dedicated to women which includes 33 per cent job reservation for women and free gas cylinders among others. Though it didn’t address the much anticipated OPS issue, BJP manifesto said it will look into the discrepancies in the remuneration of government employees.
The Congress promised in its manifesto Rs 1500 per month for women, 300 units of free electricity and took a strong position in the OPS issue as it promised implementation of OPS within 10 days if it forms the government.
AAP has released 11 guarantees that includes free health care, unemployment allowance, a monthly allowance for Rs 1000 for women, free power, among others.