Himachal Pradesh Election 2022: Will CM Jai Ram Thakur retain Seraj for BJP?
Himachal Pradesh assembly election 2022: The Congress has fielded Chet Ram Thakur, its runner-up from this assembly segment in 2017, against the chief minister.
Seraj in Mandi district is arguably the most important seat in this election, as its sitting MLA is none other than chief minister and BJP leader Jairam Thakur. In 1993, Thakur, then 28, unsuccessfully contested his first election from this seat, which was then known as Chachiot; after delimitation, the constituency was given its current name in 2007.
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Chachiot/Seraj has been with Thakur and the BJP since 1998, when he became a first-time MLA on his second attempt, and has won a further four elections from here. In 2017, the BJP leader defeated his nearest rival, Chet Ram Thakur of the Congress, by a margin of 11,254 votes; together, the winner (35,519) and the runner-up (24,265) secured 95.3% of the votes in a constituency where 86.1% electors turned up on the polling day.
In the recently-held state polls, which took place on November 12, the BJP and Congress both repeated their respective candidates for Seraj. Gita Nand (AAP), Mahender Singh (CPI-M), Indra Devi (BSP), and Narender Kumar (independent) also contested from here.
In the 2022 polls, a total of 84,315 electors – 43,572 male and 40,743 female – were eligible to elect their representative from Seraj. The counting of votes for all 68 assembly constituencies of the hill state will be held on December 8.