The Arki Assembly Constituency has
Govind Ram Sharma of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sanjay Awasthy from the
Indian National Congress (INC), Jeet Ram Sharma of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in
a three-way contest for this year’s Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections. 

Also Read | 5 key battlegrounds in Himachal this poll season

Himachal Pradesh has been governed
alternately by the BJP and Congress since the 1985 elections. However, with the
entrance of the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP in the HP elections this year, many
expect the state’s political landscape to change.

The BJP had won 44 of Himachal’s 68
assembly constituencies last time and the Congress had won 21. The CPI (M) had
won one seat. A party needs to win 35 seats for a majority to form the
government in the state.

In 2017, Virbhadra
Singh of the Congress defeated Rattan Singh Pal of the BJP by 6,051 votes. Vijay Singh Rajput of the JANSP and an
independent candidate, Vijay Singh Chauhan, also contested the elections in
2017. After the death of Virbhadra Singh in July 2021, by-elections were held in October 2021. Sanjay Awasthy
won the by-election as a candidate from the Congress and is currently the
sitting MLA of the Arki constituency. 

Also Read | 5 issues Himachalis will be voting on this election

Arki is one of the 68 assembly
constituencies in Himachal Pradesh. Arki falls under the Solan district and
Shimla Lok Sabha Constituency. Arki has more than 93,000 eligible voters. 

In 2012, Govind Ram Sharma of the BJP
defeated Sanjay (Uses just first name) of the Congress by 2,075 votes. Brij Lal
of the Himachal Swabhiman Party (HiSP), Ram Krishan of the Communist Party of
India Marxist, Bhagat Singh Bahlwal of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Gurdas Ram of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and independent candidates Amar Chand Pal, Vijay Singh, Pawan Kumar, Raj Kumari and Ahsa Parihar also contested the HP Assembly Elections in 2012. 

Himachal Pradesh votes in a single
round on November 12. Results will be announced on December 8.

Quick facts about the Arki Assembly
seat  

Name of the assembly constituency,
district: Arki, Solan district

Polling date: November 12, 2022

Sitting MLA, party: Sanjay Awasthy,
INC

Key candidates, party in 2022: Jeet
Ram Sharma (AAP), Govind Ram Sharma (BJP), Sanjay Awasthy (INC)

Winning candidate, party in 2017:
Virbhadra Singh (INC), 

Runner-up name, party 2017: 
Rattan Singh Pal, BJP

Winning margin in 2017: 6051

Top 3 candidates 2017: Virbhadra
Singh (INC), Vijay Singh Rajput (JANSP), Rattan Singh Pal (BJP)

Top 3 candidates 2012: Govind Ram
Sharma (BJP), Sanjay (INC), Amar Chand Pal (Independent)

Lok Sabha constituency: Shimla