By IANS,
Shimla : Welcoming the announcement of assembly polls, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal Wednesday said the BJP will seek positive votes on the issue of development.
“We are prepared for the polls. It’s good it’s going to be held in a single phase,” Dhumal told IANS.
He said development of the state despite discrimination by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government would be the main election plank.
Dhumal said there were a number of instances when the central government created hurdles in the state’s development.
“We are happy we have worked beyond our election manifesto (of 2007) and have lots of achievements to our credit, despite hurdles created by the UPA,” Dhumal said.
He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had cleared the names of 45 candidates and the remaining 23 would be announced this week.
The Congress is yet to announce its candidates.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which scripted history by winning the top posts of the Shimla Municipal Corporation in May, has approved 17 candidates.
Besides the BJP and Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Trinamool Congress will also contest.
Himachal Pradesh, which has 45,160,54 voters, will vote to fill 68 seats Nov 4. The result will be out Dec 20.