New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS): The Congress on Tuesday announced the first list of 46 candidates for the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh scheduled to be held in a single phase on November 12.

The prominent names in the list include Asha Kumari from Dalhousie, Vikramaditya Singh from Shimla Rural, and Dhaniram Shandil from Solan.

Singh is the son of former Chief Minister late Virbhadra Singh and is a sitting MLA, while Asha kumari is a former state minister. Others prominent names include Ram lal Thakur and Mukesh Agnihotri.

This will be the first time in decades that the Congress will be contesting elections in Himachal Pradesh without the presence of party stalwart Virbhadra Singh, who passed away in July 2021 at the age of 87.

The 68-member Himachal Assembly will go to the polls on November 12, and the counting of votes will take place on December 8. With the announcement of poll schedule by the Election Commission last week, the Model Code of Conduct for guidance of political parties and candidates has come into force.

The last date of filing nomination is October 25, while the last data for withdrawal of candidates is October 29.

In total, there are 55,07,261 voters in Himachal Pradesh, including 27,80,208 male voters and 27,27,016 female voters.