The Sundernagar Assembly Constituency has Rakesh Kumar Jamwal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sohan Lal Thakur from the Indian National Congress (INC), Pooja Thakur of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and independent candidate Abhishek Thakur contesting for this year’s Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections. Singh has previously contested elections in 2017 as an independent candidate.
In a setback for BJP candidate Rakesh Jamwal in the Sundernagar Assembly seat, party rebel Abhishek Thakur, son of former minister Roop Singh Thakur, filed his nomination as an Independent candidate earlier this month. Abhishek has a sizable vote bank in the constituency, according to The Tribune.
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Political analysts believe that the vote split between Rakesh Jamwal and Abhishek Thakur may profit Congress candidate Sohan Lal Thakur. Jamwal defeated Sundernagar’s Sohan Lal Thakur in the last Assembly elections.
Himachal Pradesh is a swing state that has alternated between the BJP and the Congress for the last over three decades. It is one of the few states where the BJP and the Congress have a direct fight. Both parties have consistently received around 40% of the stable vote share (except in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when the Congress vote share was reduced to 27 per cent). The outcomes have always been neck to neck. While, the BJP is hoping to change the trend, AAP’s entry to HP Assembly Elections has thrown new challenges for both the 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.
In 2017, Rakesh Kumar Jamwal of the BJP won the seat by defeating his closest rival Sohan Lal Thakur of the INC with a margin of 9,263 votes. Dharam Singh of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also contested the 2017 election.
Sundernagar is one of the 68 assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh. Sundernagar falls under the Mandi district and Mandi Lok Sabha Constituency. Sundernagar has more than 81,000 eligible voters.
In 2012, Sohan Lal of the Congress defeated Roop Singh, an independent candidate by 8,990 votes. Rakesh Kumar Jamwal of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Lekh Ram of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and independent candidate Chet Ram 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 Sundernagar Assembly seat
Name of the assembly constituency, district: Sundernagar, Mandi district
Polling date: November 12, 2022
Sitting MLA, party: Rakesh Kumar Jamwal (BJP)
Key candidates, party in 2022: Rakesh Kumar Jamwal (BJP), Sohan Lal Thakur (INC), Pooja Thakur (AAP), Abhishekh Thakur (Independent)
Winning candidate, party in 2017: Rakesh Kumar Jamwal, BJP
Runner-up name, party 2017: Sohan Lal Thakur, INC
Winning margin in 2017: 9,263
Top 3 candidates 2017: Rakesh Kumar Jamwal (BJP), Sohan Lal Thakur (INC), Dharam Singh (BSP)
Top 3 candidates 2012: Sohan Lal Thakur (INC), Roop Singh (Independent), Rakesh Kumar Jamwal (BJP)
Lok Sabha constituency: Mandi
