The Bhattiyat Assembly Constituency has Bikram Singh Jaryal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Kuldeep Singh Pathania from the Indian National Congress (INC) and Naresh Kumar of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) contesting for this year’s Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections.
Elections in Himachal Pradesh have been a two-party contest between the BJP and the Congress and since 1985 the state has been governed alternately by the Congress and the BJP. The BJP hopes to reverse the trend, while Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP hopes to make an impressive debut.
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In 2017, the BJP had won 44 of Himachal’s 68 assembly constituencies and the Congress 21. A party needs to win at least 35 seats for a majority to form the government in the state.
Bikram Singh Jaryal of the BJP won the seat in 2017 by defeating her closest rival Kuldeep Singh Pathania of the Congress with a margin of 6,885 votes. The other candidates were Rahul Ranpatia and Nagesh Kumar, who contested the elections independently.
Bhattiyat is one of the 68 assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh. Bhattiyat falls under the Chamba district and Kangra Lok Sabha Constituency along with 16 Assembly segments, namely, Churah, Chamba, Dalhousie, Nurpur, Indora, Fatehpur, Jawali, Jwalamukhi, Jaisinghpur, Sullah, Nagrota, Kangra, Shahpur, Dharamshala, Palampur and Baijnath, Sihunta. Bhattiyat has more than 78,000 eligible voters.
In 2012, Bikram Singh Jaryal from BJP defeated Kuldeep Singh Pathania of the INC by 111 votes. Kalu Ram of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Sudesh Kumari of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and independent candidates Bhupinder Singh Chauhan and Sushil Kumar Dhiman 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. Elections to the Gujarat assembly are also expected to be held in December this year.
Quick facts about the Bhattiyat Assembly seat
Name of the assembly constituency, district: Bhattiyat, Chamba district
Polling date: November 12, 2022
Sitting MLA, party: Bikram Singh Jaryal (BJP)
Key candidates, party in 2022: Bikram Singh Jaryal (BJP), Naresh Kumar (AAP), Kuldeep Singh Pathania (INC)
Winning candidate, party in 2017: Bikram Singh Jaryal, BJP
Runner-up name, party 2017: Kuldeep Singh Pathania, INC
Winning margin in 2017: 6,885
Top 3 candidates 2017: Bikram Singh Jaryal (BJP), Kuldeep Singh Pathania (INC), Rahul Ranpatia (Independent)
Top 3 candidates 2012: Sudesh Kumari (CPI), Bikram Singh Jaryal (BJP), Kuldeep Singh Pathania (INC)
Lok Sabha constituency: Kangra
