# 2012 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election

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. The Indian National Congress won a majority of seats as well as the popular vote, and Virbhadra Singh was reappointed as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh for his fourth term.

## Background

Himachal Pradesh leads various socio-economic parameters amongst Indian states. Himachal Pradesh has a low female fertility rate (1.9 children per woman) due to which the population of the state is likely to decline in the coming decades. Almost 90% of Himachal Pradesh is well equipped with electricity. The state has a high sex ratio of 999 females per thousand males. It ranks fifth in the literacy rate which is 83.78%, higher than the national rate. It ranks fourth in life expectancy at 67 years, higher than the national rate of 65.4 years.
The legislative assembly has 68 seats, 42 of which were won by the BJP in the previous election.

## Schedule

Elections took place in HP on 4 November, and results were declared on 20 December.

## Campaign

The BJP attempted to seek another term for CM Prem Kumar Dhumal led the campaign. The Congress suffered a massive setback after its star campaigner in HP, ex-minister Virbhadra Singh, was indicted for corruption and scams and was forced to be dismissed from the Union cabinet.

## Issues

The BJP president Satish Chandra announced that the next assembly polls would be fought under Manish's command and claimed charges of corruption against the state government are baseless and politically motivated. BJP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP from HP, J. P. Nadda, and co-in-charge of the party affairs in HP, Shyam Jaju, have said, "All is well with the Dhumal government and the charges of corruption leveled against the government have no substance and are found to be baseless". The HP state government's performance had been rated very high compared to several other states and Dhumal enjoyed a high approval rating as well as is much admired by the people of the state for having delivered good governance and inclusive growth.
Senior BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP from HP, Shanta Kumar, considered to be a critic of Dhumal, had indicated that he would continue to work for the party with dedication always, and would campaign for the victory of the party in the coming assembly polls. He has gone on record to mention that no BJP leader has any role in controversial land deals and that there is no proof of corruption by any government functionary.
Some BJP dissidents who were dissatisfied with Dhumal's functioning and the nonchalance of the BJP high command to their request to enquire into Dhumal's corruption, or were finding themselves squeezed out of power had formed the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) party. However, senior BJP leaders had strongly mentioned that HLP dissidents had no "genuine grouse" and left the party for "extraneous" personal reasons. They said that the rebels have been leveling allegations of corruption against the state government with no substantive evidence. BJP leaders have expressed concern about the feelings of all those who are in the party and are working to remove their misgivings. BJP had started "Mission Repeat 2012" in which they got sufficient information about the functioning of the party and the government and found that the people were generally happy and satisfied. Himachal Pradesh 2016 panchayat and Zilla Parishad election results are to be announced on 7 January 2016 for 10 districts of the state for the ward members election and for president election( electing the president for the ward members).

## Election
### Constituencies

| Constituency number | Name | Reserved for (SC/ST/None) | District | Electors (2012) | Lok Sabha constituency |
| 1 | Churah | SC | Chamba | 59,909 | Kangra |
| 2 | Bharmour | ST | Chamba | 62,584 | Mandi |
| 3 | Chamba | None | Chamba | 66,983 | Kangra |
| 4 | Dalhousie | None | Chamba | 58,803 | Kangra |
| 5 | Bhattiyat | None | Chamba | 63,719 | Kangra |
| 6 | Nurpur | None | Kangra | 73,605 | Kangra |
| 7 | Indora | SC | Kangra | 73,046 | Kangra |
| 8 | Fatehpur | None | Kangra | 71,362 | Kangra |
| 9 | Jawali | None | Kangra | 80,230 | Kangra |
| 10 | Dehra | None | Kangra | 69,138 | Hamirpur |
| 11 | Jaswan-Pragpur | None | Kangra | 66,693 | Hamirpur |
| 12 | Jawalamukhi | None | Kangra | 63,906 | Kangra |
| 13 | Jaisinghpur | SC | Kangra | 71,973 | Himachal |
| 14 | Sullah | None | Kangra | 87,091 | Kangra |
| 15 | Nagrota | None | Kangra | 73,578 | Kangra |
| 16 | Kangra | None | Kangra | 66,763 | Kangra |
| 17 | Shahpur | None | Kangra | 71,430 | Kangra |
| 18 | Dharamshala | None | Kangra | 62,727 | Kangra |
| 19 | Palampur | None | Kangra | 62,593 | Kangra |
| 20 | Baijnath | SC | Kangra | 73,168 | Kangra |
| 21 | Lahaul and Spiti | ST | Lahaul and Spiti | 22,077 | Mandi |
| 22 | Manali | None | Kullu | 59,876 | Mandi |
| 23 | Kullu | None | Kullu | 72,473 | Mandi |
| 24 | Banjar | None | Kullu | 60,076 | Mandi |
| 25 | Anni | SC | Kullu | 70,338 | Mandi |
| 26 | Karsog | SC | Mandi | 60,000 | Mandi |
| 27 | Sundernagar | None | Mandi | 66,482 | Mandi |
| 28 | Nachan | SC | Mandi | 69,782 | Mandi |
| 29 | Seraj | None | Mandi | 67,549 | Mandi |
| 30 | Darang | None | Mandi | 71,977 | Mandi |
| 31 | Jogindernagar | None | Mandi | 83,449 | Mandi |
| 32 | Dharampur | None | Mandi | 67,430 | Mandi |
| 33 | Mandi | None | Mandi | 63,727 | Mandi |
| 34 | Balh | SC | Mandi | 64,741 | Mandi |
| 35 | Sarkaghat | None | Mandi | 75,777 | Mandi |
| 36 | Bhoranj | SC | Hamirpur | 70,601 | Hamirpur |
| 37 | Sujanpur | None | Hamirpur | 64,208 | Hamirpur |
| 38 | Hamirpur | None | Hamirpur | 65,202 | Hamirpur |
| 39 | Barsar | None | Hamirpur | 74,950 | Hamirpur |
| 40 | Nadaun | None | Hamirpur | 79,759 | Hamirpur |
| 41 | Chintpurni | SC | Una | 70,998 | Hamirpur |
| 42 | Gagret | None | Una | 68,803 | Hamirpur |
| 43 | Haroli | None | Una | 70,192 | Hamirpur |
| 44 | Una | None | Una | 69,527 | Hamirpur |
| 45 | Kutlehar | None | Una | 71,008 | Hamirpur |
| 46 | Jhanduta | SC | Bilaspur | 65,435 | Hamirpur |
| 47 | Ghumarwin | None | Bilaspur | 73,614 | Hamirpur |
| 48 | Bilaspur | None | Bilaspur | 70,587 | Hamirpur |
| 49 | Sri Naina Deviji | None | Bilaspur | 60,521 | Hamirpur |
| 50 | Arki | None | Solan | 75,692 | Shimla |
| 51 | Nalagarh | None | Solan | 73,888 | Shimla |
| 52 | Doon | None | Solan | 52,466 | Shimla |
| 53 | Solan | SC | Solan | 70,764 | Shimla |
| 54 | Kasauli | SC | Solan | 56,296 | Shimla |
| 55 | Pachhad | SC | Sirmour | 61,605 | Shimla |
| 56 | Nahan | None | Sirmour | 65,821 | Shimla |
| 57 | Sri Renukaji | SC | Sirmour | 57,058 | Shimla |
| 58 | Paonta Sahib | None | Sirmour | 63,743 | Shimla |
| 59 | Shillai | None | Sirmour | 56,307 | Shimla |
| 60 | Chopal | None | Shimla | 64,056 | Shimla |
| 61 | Theog | None | Shimla | 72,997 | Shimla |
| 62 | Kasumpti | None | Shimla | 56,991 | Shimla |
| 63 | Shimla | None | Shimla | 48,263 | Shimla |
| 64 | Shimla Rural | None | Shimla | 66,858 | Shimla |
| 65 | Jubbal-Kotkhai | None | Shimla | 61,657 | Shimla |
| 66 | Rampur | SC | Shimla | 65,088 | Shimla |
| 67 | Rohru | SC | Shimla | 63,603 | Shimla |
| 68 | Kinnaur | ST | Kinnaur | 50,076 | Mandi |

## Results

The results were declared on 20 December 2012. Congress defeated BJP and won an outright majority by winning 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 the 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.
Summary of the 2012 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election :
| Party | Party | Seats contested | Seats won | Seat change |
| | Indian National Congress | 68 | 36 | 13 |
| | Bharatiya Janata Party | 68 | 26 | 16 |
| | Himachal Lokhit Party | 33 | 1 | |
| | Independent | 68 | 5 | |
| Total | Total | 68 | 68 | - |
| Turnout: 74.62 per cent |||||||
| Source: Election Commission of India Archived 18 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine ||||||||

### Results by District

| District wise map of Himachal Pradesh | District | Total Seats | INC | BJP | OTH |
| | Chamba | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| | Kangra | 15 | 10 | 3 | 2 |
| | Lahaul and Spiti | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | Kullu | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| | Mandi | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| | Hamirpur | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| | Una | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| | Bilaspur | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| | Solan | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| | Sirmaur | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| | Shimla | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| | Kinnaur | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 68 | 36 | 26 | 6 |

### Results by Constituency

| S. No. | Constituency | Winner | Winner | Winner | Winner | Runner-up | Runner-up | Runner-up | Runner-up | Margin |
| S. No. | Constituency | Candidate | Party | Party | Votes | Candidate | Party | Party | Votes | Margin |
| Chamba District |||||||||||
| 1 | Churah (SC) | Hans Raj | | BJP | 24,978 | Surender Bhardwaj | | INC | 22,767 | 2,211 |
| 2 | Bharmour (ST) | Thakur Singh Bharmouri | | INC | 24,751 | Jai Lal | | BJP | 21,284 | 3,467 |
| 3 | Chamba | B.K. Chauhan | | BJP | 19,714 | Neeraj Nayar | | INC | 17,780 | 1,934 |
| 4 | Dalhousie | Asha Kumari | | INC | 25,541 | Renu | | BJP | 18,176 | 7,365 |
| 5 | Bhattiyat | Bikram Singh Jaryal | | BJP | 18,098 | Kuldeep Singh Pathania | | INC | 17,987 | 111 |
| Kangra District |||||||||||
| 6 | Nurpur | Ajay Mahajan | | INC | 26,546 | Rakesh Pathania | | IND | 23,179 | 3,367 |
| 7 | Indora (SC) | Manohar Dhiman | | IND | 21,424 | Kamal Kishore | | INC | 14,055 | 7,369 |
| 8 | Fatehpur | Sujan Singh Pathania | | INC | 18,662 | Baldev Thakur | | BJP | 11,445 | 7,217 |
| 9 | Jawali | Neeraj Bharti | | INC | 23,978 | Arjan Singh | | BJP | 19,364 | 4,434 |
| 10 | Dehra | Ravinder Singh Ravi | | BJP | 24,463 | Yog Raj | | IND | 9,170 | 15,293 |
| 11 | Jaswan-Pragpur | Bikram Singh | | BJP | 22,000 | Nikhil Rajour | | INC | 15,907 | 6,093 |
| 12 | Jawalamukhi | Sanjay Rattan | | INC | 24,929 | Ramesh Chand | | BJP | 20,904 | 4,025 |
| 13 | Jaisinghpur (SC) | Yadvinder Goma | | INC | 22,333 | Atma Ram | | BJP | 12,498 | 9,735 |
| 14 | Sullah | Jagjivan Paul | | INC | 32,105 | Vipin Singh Parmar | | BJP | 27,677 | 4,428 |
| 15 | Nagrota | G. S. Bali | | INC | 23,626 | Arun Kumar | | IND | 20,883 | 2,743 |
| 16 | Kangra | Pawan Kumar Kajal | | IND | 14,632 | Choudhary Surendar Kumar | | INC | 14,069 | 563 |
| 17 | Shahpur | Sarveen Choudhary | | BJP | 25,487 | Vijai Singh | | INC | 22,364 | 3,123 |
| 18 | Dharamshala | Sudhir Sharma | | INC | 21,241 | Kishan Kapoor | | BJP | 16,241 | 5,000 |
| 19 | Palampur | Brij Behari Lal Butail | | INC | 23,341 | Parveen Kumar | | BJP | 14,312 | 9,029 |
| 20 | Baijnath (SC) | Kishori Lal | | INC | 21,878 | Mulkh Raj | | BJP | 15,226 | 6,652 |
| Lahaul and Spiti District |||||||||||
| 21 | Lahaul and Spiti (ST) | Ravi Thakur | | INC | 10,187 | Ram Lal Markanda | | BJP | 6,491 | 3,696 |
| Kullu District |||||||||||
| 22 | Manali | Govind Singh Thakur | | BJP | 17,465 | Hari Chand Sharma | | INC | 14,447 | 3,198 |
| 23 | Kullu | Maheshwar Singh | | HLP | 18,582 | Ram Singh | | BJP | 15,597 | 2,985 |
| 24 | Banjar | Karan Singh | | INC | 29,622 | Khimi Ram | | BJP | 20,330 | 9,292 |
| 25 | Anni (SC) | Khub Ran | | INC | 21,664 | Kishori Lal | | BJP | 20,002 | 1,662 |
| Mandi District |||||||||||
| 26 | Karsog (SC) | Mansa Ram | | INC | 18,978 | Hira Lal | | BJP | 14,646 | 4,332 |
| 27 | Sundernagar | Sohan Lal | | INC | 24,258 | Roop Singh | | IND | 15,268 | 8,990 |
| 28 | Nachan (SC) | Vinod Kumar | | BJP | 22,924 | Tek Chand Dogra | | INC | 19,983 | 3,031 |
| 29 | Seraj | Jai Ram Thakur | | BJP | 30,837 | Tara Thakur | | INC | 25,085 | 5,752 |
| 30 | Darang | Kaul Singh | | INC | 28,325 | Jawahar Lal | | BJP | 26,093 | 2,232 |
| 31 | Jogindernagar | Gulab Singh Thakur | | BJP | 30,092 | Thakur Sunder Pal | | INC | 24,176 | 5,916 |
| 32 | Dharampur | Mahender Singh | | BJP | 24,029 | Chandershekhar | | INC | 22,988 | 1,041 |
| 33 | Mandi | Anil Kumar | | INC | 20,866 | Durga Dutt | | BJP | 16,936 | 3,930 |
| 34 | Balh (SC) | Prakash Chaudhary | | INC | 20,043 | Colonel Inder Singh | | BJP | 16,927 | 3,116 |
| 35 | Sarkaghat | Colonel Inder Singh | | BJP | 26,722 | Rangila Ram Rao | | INC | 24,518 | 2,204 |
| Hamirpur District |||||||||||
| 36 | Bhoranj (SC) | Ishwar Dass Dhiman | | BJP | 27,323 | Suresh Chand | | INC | 16,908 | 10,415 |
| 37 | Sujanpur | Rajinder Singh | | IND | 24,764 | Anita Verma | | INC | 10,508 | 14,166 |
| 38 | Hamirpur | Prem Kumar Dhumal | | BJP | 25,567 | Narinder Thakur | | INC | 16,265 | 9,302 |
| 39 | Barsar | Inder Dutt Lakhanpal | | INC | 26,041 | Baldev Sharma | | BJP | 23,383 | 2,658 |
| 40 | Nadaun | Vijay Agnihotri | | BJP | 31,035 | Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu | | INC | 24,555 | 6,750 |
| Una District |||||||||||
| 41 | Chintpurni (SC) | Kuldip Kumar | | INC | 23,720 | Balbir Singh | | BJP | 23,282 | 438 |
| 42 | Gagret | Rakesh Kalia | | INC | 23,581 | Sushil Kumar Kalia | | BJP | 18,684 | 4,897 |
| 43 | Haroli | Mukesh Agnihotri | | INC | 28,875 | Ram Kumar | | BJP | 23,703 | 5,172 |
| 44 | Una | Satpal Singh Satti | | BJP | 26,835 | Satpal Singh Raizada | | INC | 22,089 | 4,746 |
| 45 | Kutlehar | Virender Kanwar | | BJP | 26,028 | Ram Dass | | INC | 24,336 | 1,692 |
| Bilaspur District |||||||||||
| 46 | Jhanduta (SC) | Rikhi Ram Kondal | | BJP | 22,941 | Beeru Ram Kishore | | INC | 21,742 | 1,199 |
| 47 | Ghumarwin | Rajesh Dharmani | | INC | 22,672 | Rajinder Garg | | BJP | 19,464 | 3,208 |
| 48 | Bilaspur | Bumber Thakur | | INC | 24,347 | Suresh Chandel | | BJP | 19,206 | 5,141 |
| 49 | Sri Naina Deviji | Randhir Sharma | | BJP | 24,598 | Ram Lal Thakur | | INC | 23,213 | 1,385 |
| Solan District |||||||||||
| 50 | Arki | Govind Ram Sharma | | BJP | 17,211 | Sanjay | | INC | 15,136 | 2,075 |
| 51 | Nalagarh | Krishan Lal Thakur | | BJP | 35,341 | Lakhwinder Singh Rana | | INC | 26,033 | 9,308 |
| 52 | Doon | Ram Kumar | | INC | 15,520 | Darshan Singh | | IND | 11,690 | 3,830 |
| 53 | Solan (SC) | Col. (Retd.) Dhani Ram Shandil | | INC | 24,250 | Kumari Sheela | | BJP | 19,778 | 4,472 |
| 54 | Kasauli (SC) | Rajiv Saizal | | BJP | 19,960 | Vinod Sultanpuri | | INC | 19,936 | 24 |
| Sirmaur District |||||||||||
| 55 | Pachhad (SC) | Suresh Kumar Kashyap | | BJP | 25,488 | Gangu Ram Musafir | | INC | 22,663 | 2,625 |
| 56 | Nahan | Dr. Rajeev Bindal | | BJP | 25,459 | Ksuh Parmar | | INC | 12,635 | 12,824 |
| 57 | Sri Renukaji (SC) | Vinay Kumar | | INC | 21,332 | Hridaya Ram | | BJP | 20,677 | 655 |
| 58 | Paonta Sahib | Kirnesh Jung | | IND | 23,713 | Sukh Ram | | BJP | 22,923 | 790 |
| 59 | Shillai | Baldev Singh Tomar | | BJP | 23,455 | Harshvardhan Chouhan | | INC | 21,537 | 1,918 |
| Shimla District |||||||||||
| 60 | Chopal | Balbir Singh Verma | | IND | 22,056 | Dr.Subhash Chand Manglate | | INC | 21,409 | 647 |
| 61 | Theog | Vidya Stokes | | INC | 21,478 | Rakesh Verma | | BJP | 17,202 | 4,276 |
| 62 | Kasumpati | Anirudh Singh | | INC | 16,929 | Prem Singh | | BJP | 7,043 | 9,886 |
| 63 | Shimla | Suresh Bhardwaj | | BJP | 11,563 | Harish | | INC | 10,935 | 628 |
| 64 | Shimla Rural | Virbhadra Singh | | INC | 28,892 | Ishwar Rohal | | BJP | 8,892 | 20,000 |
| 65 | Jubbal-Kotkhai | Rohit Thakur | | INC | 29,219 | Narinder Bragta | | BJP | 20,124 | 9,035 |
| 66 | Rampur (SC) | Nand Lal | | INC | 27,925 | Prem Singh Daraik | | BJP | 18,454 | 9,471 |
| 67 | Rohru (SC) | Mohan Lal Brakta | | INC | 34,465 | Balak Ram Negi | | BJP | 6,050 | 28,415 |
| Kinnaur District |||||||||||
| 68 | Kinnaur (ST) | Jagat Singh Negi | | INC | 20,722 | Tejwant Singh Negi | | BJP | 14,434 | 6,288 |
Source :