The Darang Assembly Constituency has Puranchand Thakur of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Kaul Singh Thakur from the Indian National Congress (INC), Sunita Thakur of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in a three-way contest for this year’s Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections. Puranchand Thakur previously contested the elections in 2017 as an independent candidate.
Himachal Pradesh has been an anti-incumbent state for the BJP and Congress for the last three decades. It is one of the few states where the BJP and Congress have a direct fight. While the BJP hopes to reverse the trend, the AAP’s entry into the HP Assembly Elections has presented new challenges to both opposition parties.
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.
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In 2017, Jawahar Thakur of the BJP won the seat by defeating his closest rival Kaul Singh Thakur of the INC with a margin of 6,541 votes. Ramesh Kumar of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and independent candidates Suraj Mani, Churamani Thakur and Puranchand Thakur also contested the 2017 election.
Darang is one of the 68 assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh. Darang falls under the Mandi district and Mandi Lok Sabha Constituency. Darang has more than 86,000 eligible voters.
In 2012, Kaul Singh of the Congress defeated Jawahar Lal of the BJP by 2,232 votes. Kapil Dev of Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP), Parma Nand of Bharatiya Bahujan Party (BHBP), Chuni Lal of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and independent candidates Girdhari Lal and Parma Nand 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 Darang Assembly seat
Name of the assembly constituency, district: Darang, Mandi district
Polling date: November 12, 2022
Sitting MLA, party: Jawahar Thakur, BJP
Key candidates, party in 2022: Kaul Singh Thakur (INC), Paramchand Thakur (BJP), Sunita Thakur (AAP)
Winning candidate, party in 2017: Jawahar Thakur, BJP
Runner-up name, party 2017: Kaul Singh Thakur, INC
Winning margin in 2017: 6,541
Top 3 candidates 2017: Jawahar Thakur (BJP), Kaul Singh Thakur (INC), Paramchand Thakur (Independent)
Top 3 candidates 2012: Jawahar Thakur (BJP), Kaul Singh Thakur (INC), Kapil Dev (HLP)
Lok Sabha constituency: Mandi
