The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday released its second and final list of candidates for the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls. BJP named candidates for six remaining seats.
The party had on Wednesday released its first list of 62 candidates for the November 12 assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh after late-night deliberations. The party had kept on hold names for the remaining six seats.
The state has 68 Assembly segments.
In the second list released on Thursday, BJP named candidates for Dehra, Jawalamukhi, Kullu, Barsar, Haroli and Rampur (SC) seats.
From Dehra, BJP has fielded Ramesh Dhawala, Ravinder Singh Ravi from Jawalamukhi, Maheshwar Singh from Kullu, Maya Sharma from Barsar, Ramkumar from Baroli and Kaul Negi from Rampur (SC).
Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, who was named in the first list, has been fielded from his constituency Seraj, while chief of Finance Commission of the state, Satpal Singh Satti, is set to contest from Una.
In the first list, BJP had named 19 new faces for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls slated. Nineteen out of the 62 candidates declared in the first list were new faces and trying their luck for the first time, state BJP president Suresh Kashyap had said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
Five doctors and a retired IAS officer are among those given BJP tickets. Senior Medical Superintendent at Shimla’s IGMC Hospital Dr Janak Raj has been given a ticket from Bharmaur. Two allopathic doctors Rajesh Kashyap and Anil Dhiman have been fielded from Solan and Bhoranj, respectively.
Similarly, ayurvedic doctors Rajiv Saizal and Rajiv Bindal have also been given tickets. Retired IAS officer J R Katwal is retrying his luck from Jhanduta seat.
Five women were also included in the first list of BJP candidates. Indira Kapoor has been given a ticket for the first time from Chamba. Cabinet minister Sarveen Chaudhary is retrying her luck from the Shahpur seat, MLA Reena Kashyap from Pachhad, and Rita Dhiman from the Indora seat. This time also, former candidate Shashi Bala has been given a ticket from Rohru.
The BJP is hopeful of repeating its government in the hill state. In the 68-member Assembly, the BJP currently has 43 members and the Congress 22. There are two Independents and one CPI (M) MLA.
(With PTI inputs)
