Himachal Pradesh Assembly Election Results 2022 Live Updates and Latest News: After counting concluded in the hill state on Thursday, 8 December, the Congress secured victory and bagged 40 seats in the 2022 Himachal Assembly election, while the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to secure only 25 seats.
Independent candidates bagged the remaining three seats in the Himachal Assembly.
Outgoing CM Jairam Thakur, who retained his Assembly seat from the Seraj constituency for a 6th time, submitted his resignation to the Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar earlier in the evening.
Meanwhile, news agency ANI, quoting sources, reported that MLAs from the Himachal Congress have been asked to stay in Shimla. It added that Observers Bhupesh Baghel, Bhupinder Hooda and Rajeev Shukla are likely to meet the MLAs in Shimla on Friday, 9 December.
Security personnel stand guard as counting of votes for Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections is underway at a centre in Shimla, Thursday, 8 Dec, 2022.
(Photo: PTI)
About 76.44 percent of voters had exercised their right to vote during the single-phased polls for Himachal's 68-member House.
Exit polls have predicted a photo-finish in Himachal Pradesh between the BJP and the Congress with the India Today-Axis My India Exit Poll giving a slight edge to the Congress, while hedging its bets on whether the party will win a clear majority or not.
The ABP-CVoter, Times Now-ETG and the Republic-PMARQ Exit Polls have predicted the opposite - an edge to the BJP.
There are 68 constituencies in the hill state, so a party will need to secure 35 seats in order to ensure majority.
The BJP had won majority with 44 seats in the 2017 Assembly election in the state, while the Congress had garnered 21 seats.
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'MLAs will choose their leader': Himachal Cong Prez Pratibha Singh
Himachal Congress President Pratibha Virbhadra Singh said, "MLAs will choose their leader, the decision will be informed to party's high command"
"I'm not saying that I'm in the race for CM but we've won this poll in the name of late Virbhadra Singh. You can't neglect him & his family," she added.
Counting for Himachal Election Concludes
According to the election commission website, the final numbers for the Himachal Pradesh elections are as follows:
Indian National Congress: 40 seats
Bharatiya Janata Party: 25 seats
Independents: 03 seats
PM Modi's Address on Election Results
"I want to thank Election Commission for conducting elections peacefully. As far as I know, re-polling in any poll booth was not required," PM Modi said during an address at the BJP's Headquarters in Delhi.
"I also want to thank the voters of Himachal. The difference between the number of votes for BJP & Congress was less than 1 percent," he added.
Outgoing CM Jairam Thakur Wins From Seraj
Outgoing CM Jairam Thakur, who submitted his resignation to the governor a few hours ago, has retained his Assembly seat from the Seraj constituency for a 6th time.
Thakur defeated the Congress' Chet Ram by a margin of 38,183 votes.