No nominations filed on the first day for Himachal polls

The filing of nominations for the November 9 Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh commenced today but no nomination was filed on the first day with both the ruling Congress and opposition BJP yet to release the list of their candidates.
The BJP withheld the list for the third day today while the state election committee of the Congress today cleared the names for 35 of the 68 seats and forwarded them to its high command.
State BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti said that the candidates for most of the seats had been finalised and the complete list could be released anytime.

Meanwhile, the BJP has complained to the Chief Electoral Officer alleging misuse of official machinery by chairpersons and vice chairpersons of various boards and corporations even after the imposition of model code of conduct and sought immediate action.
The CPI(M) today announced its candidates for 30 seats which included the names of state secretariat member Rakesh Singha from Theog and former mayor of Shimla Municipal Corporation Sanjay Chauhan from Shimla(urban).
Smaller parties like the Swabhiman Party and the National Freedom Party have also announced their decision to contest the polls.