2012 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election

The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, 2012 was held in Himachal Pradesh, India in 2012 after the five-year term of the incumbent state legislature and government expired following the assembly elections of 2007. The election chose 68 MLAs to the Vidhan Sabha. The Indian National Congress won a majority of seats as well as the popular vote, and Virbhadra Singh was reappointed as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh for his fourth term.

2012 Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly election

← 2007 4 November 2012 2017 →

All 68 assembly constituencies
35 seats needed for a majority
Turnout73.51%
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Virbhadra Singh Prem Kumar Dhumal
Party INC BJP
Leader's seat Shimla Rural Hamirpur
Seats before 23 42
Seats won 36 26
Seat change Increase13 Decrease16
Popular vote 1,447,319 1,300,756
Percentage 42.81% 38.47%
Swing Increase3.91% Decrease5.31%

Chief Minister before election

Prem Kumar Dhumal
BJP

Elected Chief Minister

Virbhadra Singh
INC

Background

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Himachal Pradesh leads various socio-economic parameters amongst Indian states. Himachal Pradesh has a low female fertility rate (1.9 children per woman) due to which the population of the state is likely to decline in the coming decades. Almost 90% of Himachal Pradesh is well equipped with electricity. The state has a high sex ratio of 999 females per thousand males. It ranks fifth in the literacy rate which is 83.78%, higher than the national rate. It ranks fourth in life expectancy at 67 years,[1] higher than the national rate of 65.4 years.[2]

The legislative assembly has 68 seats, 42 of which were won by the BJP in the previous election.[3]

Schedule

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Elections took place in HP on 4 November, and results were declared on 20 December.

Campaign

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The BJP attempted to seek another term for CM Prem Kumar Dhumal led the campaign. The Congress suffered a massive setback after its star campaigner in HP, ex-minister Virbhadra Singh, was indicted for corruption and scams and was forced to be dismissed from the Union cabinet.

Issues

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The BJP president Satish Chandra announced that the next assembly polls would be fought under Manish's command and claimed charges of corruption against the state government are baseless and politically motivated. BJP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP from HP, J. P. Nadda, and co-in-charge of the party affairs in HP, Shyam Jaju, have said, "All is well with the Dhumal government and the charges of corruption leveled against the government have no substance and are found to be baseless". The HP state government's performance had been rated very high compared to several other states and Dhumal enjoyed a high approval rating as well as is much admired by the people of the state for having delivered good governance and inclusive growth.

Senior BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP from HP, Shanta Kumar, considered to be a critic of Dhumal, had indicated that he would continue to work for the party with dedication always, and would campaign for the victory of the party in the coming assembly polls. He has gone on record to mention that no BJP leader has any role in controversial land deals and that there is no proof of corruption by any government functionary.[4]

Some BJP dissidents who were dissatisfied with Dhumal's functioning and the nonchalance of the BJP high command to their request to enquire into Dhumal's corruption, or were finding themselves squeezed out of power had formed the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) party.[5] However, senior BJP leaders had strongly mentioned that HLP dissidents had no "genuine grouse" and left the party for "extraneous" personal reasons. They said that the rebels have been leveling allegations of corruption against the state government with no substantive evidence. BJP leaders have expressed concern about the feelings of all those who are in the party and are working to remove their misgivings. BJP had started "Mission Repeat 2012" in which they got sufficient information about the functioning of the party and the government and found that the people were generally happy and satisfied.[6] Himachal Pradesh 2016 panchayat and Zilla Parishad election results are to be announced on 7 January 2016 for 10 districts of the state for the ward members election and for president election( electing the president for the ward members).[7]

Election

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Constituencies

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Constituency
number
Name Reserved for
(SC/ST/None)[8]
District Electors
(2012)[9][10]
Lok Sabha
constituency[11][12]
1 Churah SC Chamba 59,909 Kangra
2 Bharmour ST Chamba 62,584 Mandi
3 Chamba None Chamba 66,983 Kangra
4 Dalhousie None Chamba 58,803 Kangra
5 Bhattiyat None Chamba 63,719 Kangra
6 Nurpur None Kangra 73,605 Kangra
7 Indora SC Kangra 73,046 Kangra
8 Fatehpur None Kangra 71,362 Kangra
9 Jawali None Kangra 80,230 Kangra
10 Dehra None Kangra 69,138 Hamirpur
11 Jaswan-Pragpur None Kangra 66,693 Hamirpur
12 Jawalamukhi None Kangra 63,906 Kangra
13 Jaisinghpur SC Kangra 71,973 Himachal
14 Sullah None Kangra 87,091 Kangra
15 Nagrota None Kangra 73,578 Kangra
16 Kangra None Kangra 66,763 Kangra
17 Shahpur None Kangra 71,430 Kangra
18 Dharamshala None Kangra 62,727 Kangra
19 Palampur None Kangra 62,593 Kangra
20 Baijnath SC Kangra 73,168 Kangra
21 Lahaul and Spiti ST Lahaul and Spiti 22,077 Mandi
22 Manali None Kullu 59,876 Mandi
23 Kullu None Kullu 72,473 Mandi
24 Banjar None Kullu 60,076 Mandi
25 Anni SC Kullu 70,338 Mandi
26 Karsog SC Mandi 60,000 Mandi
27 Sundernagar None Mandi 66,482 Mandi
28 Nachan SC Mandi 69,782 Mandi
29 Seraj None Mandi 67,549 Mandi
30 Darang None Mandi 71,977 Mandi
31 Jogindernagar None Mandi 83,449 Mandi
32 Dharampur None Mandi 67,430 Mandi
33 Mandi None Mandi 63,727 Mandi
34 Balh SC Mandi 64,741 Mandi
35 Sarkaghat None Mandi 75,777 Mandi
36 Bhoranj SC Hamirpur 70,601 Hamirpur
37 Sujanpur None Hamirpur 64,208 Hamirpur
38 Hamirpur None Hamirpur 65,202 Hamirpur
39 Barsar None Hamirpur 74,950 Hamirpur
40 Nadaun None Hamirpur 79,759 Hamirpur
41 Chintpurni SC Una 70,998 Hamirpur
42 Gagret None Una 68,803 Hamirpur
43 Haroli None Una 70,192 Hamirpur
44 Una None Una 69,527 Hamirpur
45 Kutlehar None Una 71,008 Hamirpur
46 Jhanduta SC Bilaspur 65,435 Hamirpur
47 Ghumarwin None Bilaspur 73,614 Hamirpur
48 Bilaspur None Bilaspur 70,587 Hamirpur
49 Sri Naina Deviji None Bilaspur 60,521 Hamirpur
50 Arki None Solan 75,692 Shimla
51 Nalagarh None Solan 73,888 Shimla
52 Doon None Solan 52,466 Shimla
53 Solan SC Solan 70,764 Shimla
54 Kasauli SC Solan 56,296 Shimla
55 Pachhad SC Sirmour 61,605 Shimla
56 Nahan None Sirmour 65,821 Shimla
57 Sri Renukaji SC Sirmour 57,058 Shimla
58 Paonta Sahib None Sirmour 63,743 Shimla
59 Shillai None Sirmour 56,307 Shimla
60 Chopal None Shimla 64,056 Shimla
61 Theog None Shimla 72,997 Shimla
62 Kasumpti None Shimla 56,991 Shimla
63 Shimla None Shimla 48,263 Shimla
64 Shimla Rural None Shimla 66,858 Shimla
65 Jubbal-Kotkhai None Shimla 61,657 Shimla
66 Rampur SC Shimla 65,088 Shimla
67 Rohru SC Shimla 63,603 Shimla
68 Kinnaur ST Kinnaur 50,076 Mandi

Results

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The results were declared on 20 December 2012. Congress defeated BJP and won an outright majority by winning 36 of the 68 seats under the leadership of Virbhadra Singh thus proving most of the pollsters and exit polls wrong, which had predicted a photo-finish. The BJP lagged far behind with just 26 seats in its kitty whereas its breakaway faction HLP won just 1 seat.

The Congress won despite some 'unpopular' decisions made by the Congress-led Central government days before the election as part of its economic reforms, and the victory is likely to boost such reforms by the Centre.

Both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh had BJP governments and went to the polls together. But unlike Gujarat, where the BJP under the leadership of Narendra Modi retained power by winning a massive 115 out of 182 seats, in Himachal Pradesh, the Prem Kumar Dhumal-led BJP lost due to a huge anti-incumbency wave arising mainly out of corruption and lack of good governance.

Cong veteran leader Virbhadra Singh takes oath for record sixth term as Himachal chief minister at historic Ridge ground in Shimla on 25 December 2012.

Summary of the 2012 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election
 
Party Seats
contested
Seats
won
Seat
change
Vote
share
Swing
Indian National Congress 68 36   13
Bharatiya Janata Party 68 26   16
Independent 68 6
Total 68 68 -
Turnout: 74.62 per cent
Source: Election Commission of India Archived 18 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine

Results by District

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District wise map of Himachal Pradesh District Total Seats INC BJP OTH
  Chamba

5

2 3 0
Kangra

15

10 3 2
Lahaul and Spiti

1

1 0 0
Kullu

4

2 1 1
Mandi

10

5 5 0
Hamirpur

5

1 3 1
Una

5

3 2 0
Bilaspur

4

2 2 0
Solan

5

2 3 0
Sirmaur

5

1 3 1
Shimla

8

6 1 1
Kinnaur

1

1 0 0
Total

68

36 26 6

Results by Constituency

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S. No. Constituency Winner Runner-up Margin
Candidate Party Votes Candidate Party Votes
Chamba District
1 Churah (SC) Hans Raj BJP 24,978 Surender Bhardwaj INC 22,767 2,211
2 Bharmour (ST) Thakur Singh Bharmouri INC 24,751 Jai Lal BJP 21,284 3,467
3 Chamba B.K. Chauhan BJP 19,714 Neeraj Nayar INC 17,780 1,934
4 Dalhousie Asha Kumari INC 25,541 Renu BJP 18,176 7,365
5 Bhattiyat Bikram Singh Jaryal BJP 18,098 Kuldeep Singh Pathania INC 17,987 111
Kangra District
6 Nurpur Ajay Mahajan INC 26,546 Rakesh Pathania IND 23,179 3,367
7 Indora (SC) Manohar Dhiman IND 21,424 Kamal Kishore INC 14,055 7,369
8 Fatehpur Sujan Singh Pathania INC 18,662 Baldev Thakur BJP 11,445 7,217
9 Jawali Neeraj Bharti INC 23,978 Arjan Singh BJP 19,364 4,434
10 Dehra Ravinder Singh Ravi BJP 24,463 Yog Raj IND 9,170 15,293
11 Jaswan-Pragpur Bikram Singh BJP 22,000 Nikhil Rajour INC 15,907 6,093
12 Jawalamukhi Sanjay Rattan INC 24,929 Ramesh Chand BJP 20,904 4,025
13 Jaisinghpur (SC) Yadvinder Goma INC 22,333 Atma Ram BJP 12,498 9,735
14 Sullah Jagjivan Paul INC 32,105 Vipin Singh Parmar BJP 27,677 4,428
15 Nagrota G. S. Bali INC 23,626 Arun Kumar IND 20,883 2,743
16 Kangra Pawan Kumar Kajal IND 14,632 Choudhary Surendar Kumar INC 14,069 563
17 Shahpur Sarveen Choudhary BJP 25,487 Vijai Singh INC 22,364 3,123
18 Dharamshala Sudhir Sharma INC 21,241 Kishan Kapoor BJP 16,241 5,000
19 Palampur Brij Behari Lal Butail INC 23,341 Parveen Kumar BJP 14,312 9,029
20 Baijnath (SC) Kishori Lal INC 21,878 Mulkh Raj BJP 15,226 6,652
Lahaul and Spiti District
21 Lahaul and Spiti (ST) Ravi Thakur INC 10,187 Ram Lal Markanda BJP 6,491 3,696
Kullu District
22 Manali Govind Singh Thakur BJP 17,465 Hari Chand Sharma INC 14,447 3,198
23 Kullu Maheshwar Singh HLP 18,582 Ram Singh BJP 15,597 2,985
24 Banjar Karan Singh INC 29,622 Khimi Ram BJP 20,330 9,292
25 Anni (SC) Khub Ran INC 21,664 Kishori Lal BJP 20,002 1,662
Mandi District
26 Karsog (SC) Mansa Ram INC 18,978 Hira Lal BJP 14,646 4,332
27 Sundernagar Sohan Lal INC 24,258 Roop Singh IND 15,268 8,990
28 Nachan (SC) Vinod Kumar BJP 22,924 Tek Chand Dogra INC 19,983 3,031
29 Seraj Jai Ram Thakur BJP 30,837 Tara Thakur INC 25,085 5,752
30 Darang Kaul Singh INC 28,325 Jawahar Lal BJP 26,093 2,232
31 Jogindernagar Gulab Singh Thakur BJP 30,092 Thakur Sunder Pal INC 24,176 5,916
32 Dharampur Mahender Singh BJP 24,029 Chandershekhar INC 22,988 1,041
33 Mandi Anil Kumar INC 20,866 Durga Dutt BJP 16,936 3,930
34 Balh (SC) Prakash Chaudhary INC 20,043 Colonel Inder Singh BJP 16,927 3,116
35 Sarkaghat Colonel Inder Singh BJP 26,722 Rangila Ram Rao INC 24,518 2,204
Hamirpur District
36 Bhoranj (SC) Ishwar Dass Dhiman BJP 27,323 Suresh Chand INC 16,908 10,415
37 Sujanpur Rajinder Singh IND 24,764 Anita Verma INC 10,508 14,166
38 Hamirpur Prem Kumar Dhumal BJP 25,567 Narinder Thakur INC 16,265 9,302
39 Barsar Inder Dutt Lakhanpal INC 26,041 Baldev Sharma BJP 23,383 2,658
40 Nadaun Vijay Agnihotri BJP 31,035 Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu INC 24,555 6,750
Una District
41 Chintpurni (SC) Kuldip Kumar INC 23,720 Balbir Singh BJP 23,282 438
42 Gagret Rakesh Kalia INC 23,581 Sushil Kumar Kalia BJP 18,684 4,897
43 Haroli Mukesh Agnihotri INC 28,875 Ram Kumar BJP 23,703 5,172
44 Una Satpal Singh Satti BJP 26,835 Satpal Singh Raizada INC 22,089 4,746
45 Kutlehar Virender Kanwar BJP 26,028 Ram Dass INC 24,336 1,692
Bilaspur District
46 Jhanduta (SC) Rikhi Ram Kondal BJP 22,941 Beeru Ram Kishore INC 21,742 1,199
47 Ghumarwin Rajesh Dharmani INC 22,672 Rajinder Garg BJP 19,464 3,208
48 Bilaspur Bumber Thakur INC 24,347 Suresh Chandel BJP 19,206 5,141
49 Sri Naina Deviji Randhir Sharma BJP 24,598 Ram Lal Thakur INC 23,213 1,385
Solan District
50 Arki Govind Ram Sharma BJP 17,211 Sanjay INC 15,136 2,075
51 Nalagarh Krishan Lal Thakur BJP 35,341 Lakhwinder Singh Rana INC 26,033 9,308
52 Doon Ram Kumar INC 15,520 Darshan Singh IND 11,690 3,830
53 Solan (SC) Col. (Retd.) Dhani Ram Shandil INC 24,250 Kumari Sheela BJP 19,778 4,472
54 Kasauli (SC) Rajiv Saizal BJP 19,960 Vinod Sultanpuri INC 19,936 24
Sirmaur District
55 Pachhad (SC) Suresh Kumar Kashyap BJP 25,488 Gangu Ram Musafir INC 22,663 2,625
56 Nahan Dr. Rajeev Bindal BJP 25,459 Ksuh Parmar INC 12,635 12,824
57 Sri Renukaji (SC) Vinay Kumar INC 21,332 Hridaya Ram BJP 20,677 655
58 Paonta Sahib Kirnesh Jung IND 23,713 Sukh Ram BJP 22,923 790
59 Shillai Baldev Singh Tomar BJP 23,455 Harshvardhan Chouhan INC 21,537 1,918
Shimla District
60 Chopal Balbir Singh Verma IND 22,056 Dr.Subhash Chand Manglate INC 21,409 647
61 Theog Vidya Stokes INC 21,478 Rakesh Verma BJP 17,202 4,276
62 Kasumpati Anirudh Singh INC 16,929 Prem Singh BJP 7,043 9,886
63 Shimla Suresh Bhardwaj BJP 11,563 Harish INC 10,935 628
64 Shimla Rural Virbhadra Singh INC 28,892 Ishwar Rohal BJP 8,892 20,000
65 Jubbal-Kotkhai Rohit Thakur INC 29,219 Narinder Bragta BJP 20,124 9,035
66 Rampur (SC) Nand Lal INC 27,925 Prem Singh Daraik BJP 18,454 9,471
67 Rohru (SC) Mohan Lal Brakta INC 34,465 Balak Ram Negi BJP 6,050 28,415
Kinnaur District
68 Kinnaur (ST) Jagat Singh Negi INC 20,722 Tejwant Singh Negi BJP 14,434 6,288

Source : [1]

References

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  1. ^ "Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index for India's States 2011" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  2. ^ "India Factsheet: Economic and Human Development Indicators, 2011" (PDF). in.undp.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 May 2013.
  3. ^ 11th Legislative Assembly Partywise Members List Archived 22 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ "No truck with BJP rebels: Nadda". twocircles.net. 14 February 2012. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  5. ^ Sharma, Ashwani (15 February 2012). "BJP clean chit to Dhumal, says no leadership change in HP". indianexpress.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013.
  6. ^ "BJP central leadership backs Dhumal". dayandnightnews.com. 14 October 2012. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  7. ^ "Himachal Pradesh Zila Panchayat 2016 Election poll results live Counting Updates & Winners". independence.day2015.in. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  8. ^ "Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 2008" (PDF). The Election Commission of India. pp. 6, 158–164.
  9. ^ "Assembly Constituency wise Electors as on 15-09-2010" (PDF). Chief Electoral Officer, Himachal Pradesh website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  10. ^ "Assembly Constituency wise Electors as on 5-1-2012" (PDF). Chief Electoral Officer, Himachal Pradesh website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  11. ^ "District Elections" (PDF). ceohimachal.nic.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  12. ^ "List of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies" (PDF). ceohimachal.nic.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
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