Elections in Himachal Pradesh
Elections for the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Himachal Pradesh state, India are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India. The Assembly of Himachal Pradesh creates laws regarding the conduct of local body elections unilaterally while any changes by the state legislature to the conduct of state level elections need to be approved by the Parliament of India. In addition, the state legislature may be dismissed by the Parliament according to Article 356 of the Indian Constitution and President's rule may be imposed.
Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly election, 2007
Legislative Assembly elections were held in Himachal Pradesh in 2007.
| Rank | Party | Seats Contested | Seats won | % votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bharatiya Janata Party | 68 | 41 | 43.78 |
| 2 | Indian National Congress | 67 | 23 | 38.9 |
| 3 | Independent | 60 | 3 | 7.97 |
| 4 | Bahujan Samaj Party | 67 | 1 | 7.26 |
| Total | 68 |
Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly election, 2012
The Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly election, 2012 was held in Himachal Pradesh, India in 2012 after the five-year term of the incumbent state legislature and government expired following the assembly elections of 2007. The election chose 68 MLAs to the Vidhan Sabha.
| Party | Seats contested | Seats won | Seat change | Vote share | Swing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhartiya Janata Party | 68 | 26 |  16 |
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| Indian National Congress | 68 | 36 |  13 |
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| Independents | 68 | 6 | ||||
| Total | 68 | 68 | - | |||
| Turnout: 74.62 per cent | ||||||
| Source: Election Commission of India | ||||||
The results were declared on 20 December 2012. Congress defeated BJP and won outright majority by securing 36 of the 68 seats under the leadership of Virbhadra Singh - thus proving most of the pollsters and exit polls wrong, which had predicted a photo-finish. The BJP lagged far behind with just 26 seats in its kitty whereas its breakaway faction HLP won just 1 seat. The Congress won despite some 'unpopular' decisions made by the Congress-led Central government days before the election as part of its economic reforms, and the victory is likely to boost such reforms by the Centre.
Both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh had BJP governments and went to polls together. But unlike Gujarat, where the BJP under the leadership of Narendra Modi retained power by winning a massive 115 out of 182 seats, in Himachal Pradesh ,the Prem Kumar Dhumal-led BJP lost due to a huge anti-incumbency wave arising mainly out of corruption and lack of good governance.
Cong veteran leader Virbhadra Singh takes oath for record sixth term as Himachal chief minister at historic Ridge ground in Shimla on 25 December 2012.
