SHIMLA: Amid a close race, the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly's vote-counting process got underway on Thursday morning under heavy security.

On November 12, the crucial vote decided the electoral future of 412 candidates, including 24 women. Voter turnout increased from 75.57 percent in 2017 to 75.60 percent in 2018.

At 68 centres in 59 locations, the vote tallying process got underway at 8 a.m.

The results will determine the political fate of BJP leader and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and his ten ministerial colleagues. In additoon  Congress Legislature Party Leader Mukesh Agnihotri and former state Congress chief Sukhwinder Sukhu.

The BJP-led administrations in the latest elections in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana echoed the slogan "rivaj badlega," which Thakur used to launch his campaign.

Since 1985, no incumbent party has returned to power in this small hill state. Since then, the state has been alternately ruled by Congress and the BJP for eight terms.

J.P. Nadda, the head of the BJP, declared during the campaign that if his party wins, Thakur, who is running from the Seraj Assembly constituency where he won elections for five consecutive terms beginning in 1998, will be the chief minister.

However, the majority of exit polls indicated that the race would be close, with the governing BJP having a tiny advantage over the opposition Congress.

They estimated that the BJP may win up to 40 seats in the state, which is just six seats more than the 34 seats needed to fill half of the 68-member House.

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