The Rampur assembly seat in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh has fallen vacant following the death of Congress MLA Nand Lal. Under Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act 1951, it is mandatory to conduct a bypoll for this seat within six months.

The Chief Electoral Officer will recommend the Election Commission to hold a bypoll for this seat. This will be the 10th bypoll of the 14th legislative assembly, as nine bypolls have already taken place in the state.

Assembly strength and electoral history

At present, the Congress has 39 MLAs and the BJP has 28 MLAs in the Himachal Pradesh assembly. In the previous 2022 assembly election, BJP candidate Kaul Negi lost here by a margin of 567 votes, while in 1977 the Congress lost to Janata Party candidate Ninju Ram.

The exact date for the bypoll on this vacant seat has not been announced yet, and the new candidates for both major parties have also not been decided.