SHIMLA: The Thursday Assembly results in Himachal Pradesh will determine the future of many prominent leaders of both parties, as most exit poll polls indicated a close race between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, with the former maintaining a little advantage.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is contesting the Assembly elections for the first time, has been absent from the state while its leaders concentrate on growing its support base in Gujarat.
Despite the AAP's presence, the state's political landscape appears to be mainly bipolar at this point, a tug-of-war between the Congress and the saffron party, the two traditional archrivals.
Rebels who had severed links with the mainstream parties have been holding "in-door" parleys with the idea that there is no permanent enemy or friend in politics after sensing a neck-and-neck race between the BJP and the Congress. To maintain its numbers in "order" in the event of a hung House, both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main Opposition Congress have started an exercise.
There is a lot of concern about legislators leaving the Congress.
The results will determine the destiny of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, 57, who is running from his stronghold Seraj, where he has won five elections in a row in 1998, 2003, 2007, and 2012, as well as in 2017.
With elections being contested under his direction, BJP leader J.P. Nadda has said that Thakur will be the chief minister if the party triumphs.
Thakur's outgoing Cabinet colleague Suresh Bhardwaj is in fray from his new battle ground Kasumpti, adjoining his stronghold Shimla.
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