Himachal Assembly polls: BJP ousts ruling Congress; CM candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal loses seat

Cashing in on the anti-incumbency wave in Himachal Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Assembly election with a huge margin on Monday. The saffron party won 44 Assembly seats in the 68-member Assembly House while the Congress party could win just 21 seats. Till filling of the report, the Congress was ahead on one seat. Of total 68 seats, a seat went to an independent candidate, while more seat of Theog constituency - earlier left vacant by Congress veteran leader Vidya Stokes for a relatively younger face - was won by CPI(M) candidate Rakesh Singha. BJP's chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal faced an embarrassing defeat from Congress' Rajinder Rana at Sujanpur. Earlier, BJP MLA Virender Kanwar who won from Kutlehar seat earlier said he would offer his seat to Prem Kumar Dhumal. The defeat will be a big embarrassment for the BJP which declared him the chief ministerial candidate before the elections. Also, the saffron party high command would find it difficult to choose a CM candidate considering no prominent face of a stature of Dhumal in the state.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the people of the state for posing trust in the BJP and assured of all-around development of the state. 

I bow to the people of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh for their affection and trust in BJP. I assure them that we will leave no stone unturned in furthering the development journey of these states and serve the people tirelessly.

- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 18, 2017

Satpal Singh Raizada and Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress party have won from Una and Shimla rural constituencies, respectively. Vikramaditya was fighting for the first time from the seat vacated by his father and incumbent Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Though it was believed that Vikramaditya's opponent, BJP's Pramod Sharma, would give a tough competition to the first-timer Congress candidate, Pramod lost with a considerable margin.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) hailed the victory of its candidate Rakesh Singha from Theog Assembly constituency in Himachal Pradesh on Monday. CPM's Rakesh Singha defeated his near rival Rakesh Verma of the BJP from Theog. "This victory reflects the faith the people of Theog have reposed in the CPM to protect their rights and work for their interests in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly," the party said, in a statement, say PTI.

In a relief to Congress, party's Rohit Thakur wins high-profile Jubbal-Kotkhai seat by over 9,000 votes defeating BJP's prominent leader Narinder Bragta.

"Will form Government in both Himachal and Gujarat with clear majority" says Home Minister Rajnath Singh #HimachalPradeshElections2017 #GujaratVerdict pic.twitter.com/TZymBvklV7

- ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2017

BJP is currently leading with 45 seats compared to 19 for the incumbent Congress party, as per trends. The current chief minister Virbhadra Singh is the Congress candidate while former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has been fielded as the BJP candidate. The exit polls had also predicted a BJP victory, true to the alternating victory cycle, but that can't be considered the writing on the wall-exit polls have often been proved wrong in the past.

The incumbent CM was leading from Arki this morning. But BJP is leading by a wide margin in most places. BJP's Inder Singh is leading by 2263 votes in Balh against INC's incumbent Prakash Chaudhary. The BJP's candidates are also leading in Lahaul, Mandi, Anni, Hamirpur and Una seats.

The November 9 elections witnessed a record voter turnout of over 75 per cent. Just to remind you, a party will need to bag 35 seats in the 68-member house to gain majority in the state. A total of 377 candidates contested for the 68 seats in this election. While the BJP and Congress fielded candidates on all seats, the BSP contested 42 seats followed by the CPI(M) 14, the Swabhiman party and the Lok Gathbandhan Party six each and the CPI-3.

Back in 2012, the Congress had won an outright majority with 36 of the 68 seats while the BJP had lagged behind with 26 seats in its kitty. The tables seem to have turned, if the BJP's early lead continues to play out.