In Himachal Pradesh, there are a total of four Lok Sabha constituencies – Mandi, Hamirpur, Kangra, and Shimla. Along with the Lok Sabha elections, by-elections for six seats of the Legislative Assembly in the state will be held on June 1, in the seventh and final phase. The notification for these elections will be issued on May 7, and nomination papers can be filed by May 14.
Voting will be held in four Lok Sabha constituencies and six assembly constituencies of Himachal Pradesh in a single phase on 1st June. Bharatiya Janata Party has declared its candidates for 6 assembly seats including all the four parliamentary constituencies of the state, whereas the Congress party has not been able to declare the name of any candidate so far. The Central Election Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Union Minister and sitting MP Anurag Singh Thakur from Hamirpur parliamentary constituency consecutively for the fifth time, while famous film actress Kangana Ranaut has been made the party candidate from Mandi Lok Sabha constituency. Similarly, sitting MP from Shimla Lok Sabha constituency, Suresh Kashyap, while Dr. Rajeev Bhardwaj from Kangra has been made the BJP candidate. Along with the Lok Sabha elections, by-elections have also been declared in 6 assembly constituencies in the state, which include Dharamshala, Sujanpur, Kutlahar, Gagret, Barsar and Lahaul Spiti. It is noteworthy that in the elections held on February 27 for a Rajya Sabha seat, 6 MLAs of the Congress Party and three independent MLAs had voted for the winning BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan, due to which the Congress government in the state was in trouble. The State Assembly Speaker had disqualified these six rebel Congress MLAs for violating the whip issued during the budget session. Recently, all these former MLAs have left Congress and joined BJP, which has declared them as its candidates from their respective constituencies. State Chief Electoral Officer Manish Garg said that a total of 7 thousand 9 hundred 90 polling stations will be set up for the elections in the state. He said 56 lakh 38 thousand voters have been registered so far, and that voters can get themselves registered till 4th May, 2024.