In Pre-Assembly Slugfest, Himachal Pradesh Goes To Bypolls On Oct 30

Being seen as the semifinals for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh assembly elections next year, bypolls for Mandi Lok Sabha and Arki, Fatehpur, and Jubbal-Kotkhai Vidhan Sabha seats will be held on Saturday.

Voting at the four constituencies will be held on October 30. These include the Mandi Lok Sabha seat from where a parliamentarian will be elected.

According to the local Congress and BJP leaders, the results of the polls are likely to impact the assembly elections scheduled to be held in December next year.

The Mandi Lok Sabha seat comprises 17 Assembly segments.

The state BJP chief spokesperson Randhir Sharma told PTI the results of the bypoll would affect the Assembly elections.

The sentiment was echoed by Shillai MLA Harshwardhan Chauhan who is also the chairperson of state Congress media cell.

Both laid strong claims of victory of the four seats up for polls.

A total of 2484 polling stations and 312 auxiliary polling stations have been set up for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat (12,99,756 voters), and Fatepur (87,222 voters), Arki (92,609), and Jubbal-Kotkhai (70,965) Vidhan Sabha seats, an election official said.

Mandi parliamentary seat boasts of the world's highest polling station of Tshigang located at 15,256 feet above sea level in the tribal district Lahaul-Spiti.

A tight contest is expected between the ruling BJP and Congress party on all seats except Jubbal-Kotkhai, where rebel BJP candidate Chetan Singh Bragta - contending on an independent ticket -- is being predicted as a stronger candidate.

A matter of prestige for both parties' leaders, Mandi is expected to be contested hotly.

Mandin being his home district, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur is likely to throw all his weight behind BJP candidate Kargil war hero Brigadier Khushal Singh Thakur, who is trying his luck for the first time.

At the other end is the six-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh's wife Pratibha Singh, who is in fray from the district on a Congress ticket.

Besides them, six other candidates including Ambika Shyam of the Rashtriya Lokniti Party, Munshi Ram Thakur of the Himachal Jankranti Party, and independent candidates Anil Kumar and Subhash Mohan Snehi are in fray there.

Twelve candidates are trying their luck for the three assembly seats of Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai.

Defected from BJP, Bragta is seen to be giving a tough fight to BJP's Neelam Seraik in Jubbal-Kotkhai, where four candidates including Congress' Rohit Thakur and Independent Suman Kadam are in fray.

A direct contest is likely between BJP's Rattan Singh Pal and Congress' Sanjay in Arki where Independent candidate Jeet Ram is also trying his luck.

In Fatehpur, the main contest is expected between Baldev Thakur of the BJP and Bhawani Singh Pathania of the Congress.

At this seat, Pankaj Kumar Darshi of the Himachal Jankranti Party and Independent candidates Ashok Kumar Somal and Rajan Sushant are also contending.

The bypolls at the four seats were due as they fell vacant following the deaths of sitting lawmakers.

The Mandi seat fell vacant after the sitting MP, BJP's Ram Swaroop Sharma, was found hanging in his official residence in New Delhi on March 17.

Former state minister and Fatehpur Congress MLA Sujan Singh Pathania, former minister and Jubbal-Kotkhai MLA Narinder Bragta and former chief minister and Arki MLA Virbhadra Singh died in February, June, and July respectively.

Counting for the Mandi Lok Sabha and the three assembly seats will be held on November 2 after voting on October 30.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)