The Dehra Assembly Constituency has Ramesh Dhawala of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rajesh Sharma from the Indian National Congress (INC) and Manish Dhiwan of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) contesting for this year’s Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections. 

Since 1985, Himachal Pradesh has been governed alternately by the Congress and the BJP. The BJP hopes to break this cycle, while Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP hopes to make an impressive debut in the state’s political landscape. 

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The BJP had won 44 of Himachal’s 68 assembly constituencies last time and the Congress had won 21. A party needs to win at least 35 seats to form the government in the state.

In 2017, Hoshyar Singh, an independent candidate won the seat by defeating his closest rival Ravinder Singh Ravi of the Bharatiya Janata Party with a margin of 3,914 votes. Viplove Thakur of the Indian National Congress (INC), Vipan Chand from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Manohar Lal Sharma of Bhartiya Himachal Jan Vikas Party (BHJVP) and independent candidate Sudesh Choudhary also contested the election. 

Dehra is one of the 68 assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh. Dehra falls under the Kangra district and Hamirpur Lok Sabha Constituency. Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency is one of the four Lok Sabha constituencies in Himachal Pradesh. BJP leader Anurag Thakur is the Member of Parliament from Hamirpur Lok Sabha Constituency. Dehra has more than 83,000 eligible voters. 

In 2012, Ravinder Singh of BJP defeated Yog Raj, an independent candidate by 15,293 votes. Independent candidates Harpal Singh Jaswal, Rajesh Kumar, Onkar Chand Thakur, Vijay Kumar, Satish Kumar, Ashwani Kumar, Rajinder Singh Chawla, Hari Om of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Rajinder Singh Rana of Indian National Congress (INC), Sushma Devi of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Sulekha Devi of Samajwadi Party (SP), Durgesh of Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP), Raj Kumar of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and Mohan Lal of Himachal Swabhiman Party (HSP) 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 Dehra Assembly seat  

Name of the assembly constituency, district: Dehra, Kangra district

Polling date: November 12, 2022

Sitting MLA, party: Hoshyar Singh (Independent)

Key candidates, party in 2022: Ramesh Dhawala (BJP), Rajesh Sharma (INC), Manish Dhiwan (AAP)

Winning candidate, party in 2017: Hoshyar Singh (Independent)

Runner-up name, party 2017: Ravinder Singh (BJP)

Winning margin in 2017: 3,914

Top 3 candidates 2017: Ravinder Singh (BJP), Hoshyar Singh (Independent), Viplove Thakur (INC)

Top 3 candidates 2012: Rajinder Singh Rana (INC), Rajinder Singh Rana (INC), Yog Raj (Independent)

Lok Sabha constituency: Hamirpur