The Baijnath Assembly Constituency has Mulkh Raj Premi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Kishori Lal from the Indian National Congress (INC) and Pramod Chand of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) contesting for this year’s Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections.
For several decades, Himachal Pradesh has alternated between BJP and Congress governments. Anti-incumbency has largely been the norm in the state. The entry of AAP into the traditionally direct contest between Congress and the BJP is also expected to work against the BJP, which suffered greatly after Kejriwal’s party entered Delhi politics in 2013.
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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, Mulkh Raj Premi of the BJP won the seat by defeating his closest rival Kishori Lal of the INC with a margin of 12,669 votes. Ramesh Chand of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and an independent candidate Bir Singh also contested the 2017 election.
Baijnath is one of the 68 assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh. Baijnath falls under the Kangra district and Kangra Lok Sabha Constituency, along with 16 Assembly segments, namely, Churah, Chamba, Dalhousie, Bhattiyat, Nurpur, Fatehpur, Jawali, Indora, Jwalamukhi, Jaisinghpur, Sullah, Nagrota, Kangra , Shahpur, Dharmashala and Palampur, Sihunta. Baijnath has more than 75,000 eligible voters. This constituency is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.
In 2012, Kishori Lal of INC defeated Mulkh Raj of BJP by 6,652 votes. Vijay Kumar of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Udho Ram of Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP), Shashi Pal of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Ashok Kumar of Lok Jan Shakti Party (LSP), Om Prakash of Himachal Swabhiman Party (HSP) and independent candidate Tilak Raj contested the HP Assembly Elections in 2012.
Himachal Pradesh votes in a single round on November 12. Results will be announced on December 8. Elections to the Gujarat assembly are also expected to be held in December this year.
Quick facts about the Baijnath Assembly seat
Name of the assembly constituency, district: Baijnath, Kangra district
Polling date: November 12, 2022
Sitting MLA, party: Mulkh Raj Premi, BJP
Key candidates, party in 2022: Mulkh Raj Premi (BJP), Kishori Lal (INC), Pramod Chand (AAP)
Winning candidate, party in 2017: Mulkh Raj Premi, BJP
Runner-up name, party 2017: Kishori Lal (INC)
Winning margin in 2017: 12,669
Top 3 candidates 2017: Kishori Lal (INC), Mulkh Raj Premi (BJP), Ramesh Chand (BSP)
Top 3 candidates 2012: Kishori Lal (INC), Mulkh Raj Premi (BJP), Udho Ram (HLP)
Lok Sabha constituency: Kangra
