Himachal Pradesh Elections 2017: BJP releases a list of 68 candidates

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NEW DELHI: A day before Diwali, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released a list of 68 candidates for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh elections 2017 on Wednesday. The state will go to polls on November 9. The counting of votes however, will take place on December 9. 

.@BJP4India releases list of candidates for upcoming Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh. pic.twitter.com/N0LbRz5cR5 — BJP LIVE (@BJPLive) October 18, 2017

Former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal will contest from Sujanpur. Dhumal has swapped his present Hamirpur seat with party MLA Narendra Thakur, who will now be the party candidate from the seat. 

The list includes several former ministers, including Rajeev Bindal from Nahan and Narinder Bragta from Jubbal-kotkhai. Former Minister Anil Sharma, who had joined the BJP three days back after quitting the Congress, has been fielded from Mandi. 

Virbhadra Singh-led Congress won the last assembly elections in the hilly state. The BJP is yet to declare the chief ministerial candidate. The party aims to use Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah's image in poll campaign.

The BJP list came two days after the process of filing nominations started for the assembly polls. The last date of filing nominations is October 23. 

With agency inputs