New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi will kickstart the party's election campaign in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh on Monday with a rally in Mandi at 11 am. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi are expected to join the campaign later this month.
Battle lines have been drawn for multi-cornered contests with 459 candidates remaining in the field for 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly going to polls on November 4. A maximum number of 16 candidates are in the fray from Dehra, followed by Dharamsala (14), Arki (11) and Mandi and Gagret (10 each). Fifteen constituencies each would witness five-cornered and six-cornered contests while seven candidates are in the field in thirteen constituencies, ten in eight constituencies and four in remaining constituencies.
Top contenders -- Chief Minister P K Dhumal, former Chief Minister and HPCC president Virbhadra Singh and leader of the opposition in Vidhan Sabha Vidya Stokes -- are locked in a seven-cornered contest in Hamirpur, Shimla (Rural) and Theog. Dhumal is pitted against Natinder Thakur; Virbhadra Singh is facing BJP greenhorn Ishwar Rohal while Vidya Stokes is facing formidable rivals Rakesh Verma (BJP) and Rakesh Singha (CPI-M).
The ruling BJP and Congress are contesting all 68 seats while the BSP has fielded candidates from 66 constituencies, followed by Himachal Lokhit Party (36), TMC-25, LPJ-18, CPI(M)-16, SP, NCP and Swabhiman Party 15 each, CPI-7 and Shiv Sena -4. As many as 105 independents, including about one and a half dozen BJP and Congress rebels, have also entered the fray.
With Additional Inputs from PTI
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