The Seraj Assembly Constituency has Jai Ram Thakur of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Chet Ram Thakur from the Indian National Congress (INC), Mahender Rana of the Communist Party of India Marxist, CPI (M), and Geeta Nand Thakur of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) contesting for this year’s Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections.
For the past 25 years, the BJP has dominated the Seraj Assembly constituency, formerly known as Chachiot. Since 1998, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has served as a BJP MLA in the constituency. The BJP appears to be at ease in this seat, where the Congress has fielded its old war horse Chet Ram Thakur, who was defeated by Jai Ram Thakur in the last Assembly election. In Seraj, the Congress is divided into various factions, which might prove advantageous for the BJP.
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For the last over three decades, Himachal Pradesh has been a swing state for the BJP and the Congress. It is one of the few states where the BJP and the Congress are in a direct fight. While the BJP hopes to reverse the trend, the AAP’s entry into the HP Assembly Elections has given both opposition parties a new challenge.
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, Jai Ram Thakur of the BJP won the seat by defeating his closest rival Chet Ram Thakur of the INC with a margin of 11,254 votes. Sunder Lal of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and independent candidates Dile Ram and Narender Kumar also contested the 2017 election.
Seraj is one of the 68 assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh. Seraj falls under the Mandi district and Mandi Lok Sabha Constituency. Seraj has more than 86,000 eligible voters.
In 2012, Jai Ram Thakur of the BJP defeated Tara Thakur of the Congress by 5,752 votes. Jagdish Kumar of the CPI (M) and Sunder Lal of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 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 Seraj Assembly seat
Name of the assembly constituency, district: Seraj, Mandi district
Polling date: November 12, 2022
Sitting MLA, party: Jai Ram Thakur, BJP
Key candidates, party in 2022: Jai Ram Thakur (BJP) Chet Ram Thakur (INC), Mahender Rana (CPIM), Geeta Nand Thakur (AAP)
Winning candidate, party in 2017: Jai Ram Thakur, BJP
Runner-up name, party 2017: Chet Ram Thakur, INC
Winning margin in 2017: 11, 254
Top 3 candidates 2017: Jai Ram Thakur (BJP), Chet Ram (INC), Sunder Lal (BSP)
Top 3 candidates 2012: Tara Thakur (INC), Jagdish Kumar (CPIM), Jai Ram Thakur (BJP)
Lok Sabha constituency: Mandi
