Himachal Pradesh Elections 2017: BJP releases list of 68 candidates

New Delhi: Just a day before Diwali, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday released a list of all the 68 candidates for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections. 

The state will go to polls on November 9. 

The counting of votes however, will take place on December 9. 

Former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Himachal Pradesh BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti are among the party candidates for the state assembly elections.

The list also include Anil Sharma, Congress veteran Sukhram's son, who quit his party recently to join the BJP.

Dhumal, a two-time chief minister, will contest from Sujanpur instead of Hamirpur, which he represents in the outgoing assembly.

Dhumal and Union minister J P Nadda are seen as two most likely choices for the post of chief minister if the saffron party comes back to power in the Congress-ruled state. 

The BJP has not named its chief ministerial candidate.

The BJP Central Election Committee had met last week to finalise their candidates in the state.

The BJP list came two days after the process of filing nominations started for the assembly polls. The last date of filing nominations is October 23. 

(With inputs from PTI.)