31 candidates, 4 Parliamentary Constituencies, 7253 polling stations ready for Himachal Lok Sabha fray

By: Disha Singh Sharma

Shimla: After scrutiny of nomination papers for approaching 15th Lok Sabha list of thirty-six candidates was finalized but number of contesting candidates reduced to thirty-one as later five candidates withdrew their nomination. Thus, leaving behind total thirty-one candidates in the fray of Lok Sabha in Himachal Pradesh’s four Parliamentary constituencies, whose names are as follows:

From Kangra parliamentary constituency: Chander Kumar (INC), Col. Narender Singh Pathania (BSP), Dr. Rajan Shushant (BJP), Keshab (LokJanShakti Party), Joginder Singh (Shiv Sena), Smt. Nirmla Sharma (Rashtarwadi Sena), Kapil Kumar Chaudhary (Independent), Dhani Ram (Independent), Partap Singh (Independent) and Roshan Lal (Independent).

In Mandi parliamentary constituency: Dr. Onkar Shad (Communist Party of India (Marxist)), Maheshwar Singh(Bhartiya Janata Party), Lala Ram (BahujanSamaj Party), Virbhadra Singh (Indian National Congress), Hookam Chand Shastri (Rashtarwadi Sena), and Shan Mohammad (Independent).

In Hamirpur Parliamentary Constituency: Anurag Singh Thakur(Bhartiya Janata Party), Narender Thakur(Indian National Congress), Mangat Ram Sharma(Bahujan Samaj Party), Pankaj Katna (Shiv Sena), Malkiat Singh, (Rashtriya Raksha Dal), Raj Kumar(Rashtravadi Sena), Dr. Rajender Sharma(Independent), and Er. Sandeep Sharma (Independent).

From Shimla (SC) Parliamentary Constituency: Dhani Ram Shandil (Indian National Congress), Virender Kashyap (Bhartiya Janata Party), Som Nath (Bahujan Samaj Party), Gurnam Singh Chandel (Samajwadi Party), Brij Lal(Shiv Sena), Roop Ram(Independent) and Shurveer Singh(Independent).

The Election Commission Officer, Anil Khachi, also revealed that 7251 main Polling Stations and 2 Auxiliary polling stations are being setup in the Four Parliamentary Constituencies for Lok Sabha Elections – 2009 in the State. 1259 Polling Stations have been declared as sensitive while 708 polling Stations have been classified as Hypersensitive to ensure free and fair elections in the State. The maximum number of Hyper Sensitive Polling Stations is 197 in Kangra District, he added. However, the largest number of Polling Stations was 1921 in 2-Mandi Parliamentary Constituency, including the Auxiliary Polling Station in Jogindernagar Assembly Constituency.