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BJP won the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections with 44 seats and the Congress trailed behind with 21. Incidentally, the CPI(M) opened its account bagging one seat, while another Independent managed to grab one seat in the 68-member Assembly.
With the BJP recording a thumping victory in Himachal Pradesh, all eyes are on the next rung of leadership in the state.
Speaking about this, JP Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Rajya Sabha member from Himachal Pradesh, said that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Narendra Tomar will be going to the state to hold discussions about the leadership there.
Despite his party’s (Congress) big loss in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, the incumbent CM Virbhadra Singh took a dig at the BJP saying how the latter’s CM candidate PK Dhumal and state president Satpal Singh Satti lost out, and how it was Modi’s money which worked in the elections and not Modi’s magic.
Himachal Pradesh BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti lost out to Congress’ Satpal Singh Raizada in the Una constituency by a margin of 3,196 votes.
After emerging victorious in both Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a victory speech at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.
Watch his speech below:
In what seemed to be a dig at Virbhadra Singh, Modi said:
He further remarked how the election results in the two states prove that “the country is ready for reform… and believes in transformation”.
Six-time Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh blamed the party's central leadership for lack of campaigning, as he accepted the Congress party’s defeat in the state assembly elections.
He refused to put the blame on Congress President Rahul Gandhi. "The elections were conducted under my leadership and I accept our defeat."
Commanding a lead over BJP’s CM face PK Dhumal in Sujanpur, Congress candidate Rajinder Rana said the numbers (for Sujanpur) are “a symbol of people’s confidence in Congress”.
Congress’ Vikramaditya Singh, son of incumbent Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh, won from the Shimla Rural constituency, defeating BJP’s Pramod Sharma by a margin of 4,880 votes.
Incumbent Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh won from the Arki constituency, defeating BJP’s Rattan Singh Pal by a margin of 6,051 votes.
Addressing a press conference on the election results, BJP President Amit Shah offered his “heartfelt gratitude to the people of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh for giving the party another opportunity to serve them.”
He also expressed confidence that the BJP, under the leadership of PM Modi, will once again get the people’s support in the 2019 general elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to laud the victory of the BJP in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, saying it indicates a “strong support for politics of good governance and development.”
The party congratulated the people for electing Singha.
BJP's candidate Suresh Bhardwaj defeats Independent Harish Janartha in Shimla seat by 1,903 votes.
Meanwhile in Anni, BJP's Kishori Lal beats Congress' Paras Ram 5,983 votes.
CM Virbhadra Singh’s son Vikramaditya is leading in Rural Shimla by 2,727 votes. This is his electoral debut.
As BJP is set to sweep Himachal Pradesh, here’s Neeraj Gupta’s ‘Neerajism’ on the election trend in the hill state.
Congress wins Kasumpti seat in Himachal Pradesh with its candidate Anirudh Singh defeating BJP's Vijay Jyoti by a margin of 9,397 votes.
CM Virbhadra Singh’s son, who is leading in Rural Shimla, says he is confident of forming a Congress government. The trends have since changed, and the BJP is leading comfortably.
Sensex crashed earlier in the day by over 700 points as the contest between BJP and Congress seemed neck-and-neck. As trends went back to showing BJP leading in the hill state, markets recovered. Nifty is back above 10,300 levels, and the rupee is trading at 64.26 against its last close of 64.04.
The CPI (M) is leading in Theog, the constituency where the ‘Gudiya’ rape occurred in Kothkai. There was severe anti-incumbency in the region, with people especially upset with CM Virbhadra Singh’s handling of the case.
Incumbent Chief Minister from the Congress, Virbhadra Singh, is leading from Arki.
Counting of EVM votes begins.
The first batch of votes being counted are the postal ballots. The BJP seems to have taken an early lead.
It is 8 am, and the counting of votes for the hill state have begun!
Counting of votes for the 68-seat Himachal Pradesh Assembly is expected to begin at 8 am.
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Published: 15 Dec 2017,06:13 PM IST