The Jawali Assembly Constituency has Sanjay Kumar Guleria of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Chander Kumar from the Indian National Congress (INC) and Baldev Raj of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) contesting for this year’s Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections.
For many years, elections in Himachal Pradesh have been a two-party contest between the BJP and Congress. Since 1985, the state has been governed alternately by the Congress and the BJP. The BJP hopes to reverse this trend, while Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP hopes to make a significant dent in the state’s political diaspora.
Also Read: Pakistanis expect Rishi Sunak to push India on Kashmir resolution
The BJP had won 44 of Himachal’s 68 assembly constituencies last time and the Congress 21. A party needs to win at least 35 seats to form the government in the state.
In 2017, Arjun Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party won the seat by defeating his closest rival Chander Kumar of the Congress with a margin of 8,213 votes. Manjana Devi from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Harbans Lal Dhiman of Navbharat Ekta Dal (NED), Rustam Singh of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and independent candidate Rakesh Kumar also contested the election.
Jawali is one of the 68 assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh. Jawali falls under the Kangra district and Kangra Lok Sabha Constituency along with 16 Assembly segments, namely, Churah, Chamba, Dalhousie, Bhattiyat, Nurpur, Indore, Fatehpur, Jwalamukhi, Jaisinghpur, Sullah, Nagrota, Kangra, Shahpur, Dharamshala, Palampur and Baijnath, Sihunta. Jawali has more than 99,000 eligible voters.
In 2012, Neeraj Bharti of INC defeated Arjun Singh from BJP by 4,434 votes. Independent candidates Sanjay Kumar Guleria, Sushil Sharma, Parbhat Singh, Ravi Kumar of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Ravinder Singh of Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP), Aman Kumar of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Kuldeep Singh Jaryal 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.
Quick facts about the Jawali Assembly seat
Name of the assembly constituency, district: Jawali, Kangra district
Polling date: November 12, 2022
Sitting MLA, party: Arjun Singh, BJP
Key candidates, party in 2022: Sanjay Kumar Guleria (BJP), Baldev Raj (AAP), Chander Kumar (INC)
Winning candidate, party in 2017: Arjun Singh, BJP
Runner-up name, party 2017: Chander Kumar, INC
Winning margin in 2017: 8,213
Top 3 candidates 2017: Rakesh Kumar (Independent), Chander Kumar (INC), Arjun Singh (BJP)
Top 3 candidates 2012: Neeraj Bharti (INC), Sanjay Kumar Guleria (Independent), Arjun Singh (BJP)
Lok Sabha constituency: Kangra
