By IANS
Shimla : A dozen candidates are left in the fray for the Nov 14 polls to the three Himachal Pradesh tribal assembly seats of Kinnaur, Bharmaur and Lahaul and Spiti.
Wednesday was the last day for withdrawal of nominations for the three seats in mountainous regions, where polling is being held early due to threat of snowfall.
The remaining 65 assembly segments will go to polls Dec 19. All the results will be declared Dec 28.
In Kinnaur, it is a fight for the second time in a row between Jagat Singh Negi of the Congress and Tejwant Singh Negi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Susheel Sagar of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Bhagat Singh of the Lok Janshakti Party are also in the fray here.
In Bharmaur, old rivals Thakur Singh Bharmauri of the Congress and Tulsi Ram of the BJP will clash for the sixth time. Bharmauri won the seat thrice while Ram has won twice. Two independents are also in the fray.
The Lahaul and Spiti seat will see a triangular contest between Phunchog Rai of the Congress, Ram Lal Markandae (BJP) and an independent — Shyam Chand.
Interestingly, Lahaul and Spiti is the largest assembly segment but has the fewest voters in the hill state.
The total number of voters in these three seats is 127,793, with the maximum in Bharmaur at 55,108. Kinnaur has 49,876 and Lahaul Spiti 22,809 voters.
Meanwhile, in another development, former minister Roop Singh Thakur and his son Abhishek have approached the BJP for tickets for the Sundernagar seat in Mandi district for the Dec 19 polls.
Abhishek is an active functionary of the party in the district.
The father has been a legislator several times from Sundernagar and a minister twice, while his son is popular among the youth.
The state unit of the BJP will now leave the matter to the high command to decide.