Friday, 17 May, 2024
By: Anshul Vipat
Congress has managed to cross the halfway mark winning 40 seats compared to BJP's 25. Image source: IANS
Outgoing chief minister Jairam Thakur conceded defeat and said that he will shortly meet the governor to submit his resignation
The Congress managed to disloge the BJP government in Himachal Pradesh as the grand old party managed to a comfortable majority in the hill state. The Congress has won 40 seats. BJP, on the other hand, saw its tally going below 30 seats mark though initially it was leading in about 33 seats. The saffron party has managed to win 25 seats.
Meanwhile, outgoing chief minister Jairam Thakur conceded defeat and said that he will shortly meet the governor to submit his resignation.
Himachal Pradesh has not voted any incumbent government to power since 1985. In 2017, the BJP won 44 seats, the Congress 21 and the CPIM gained one. Two Independent candidates, too, had won.
About 76.44 per cent of voters had exercised their franchise in the assembly polls held on November 12.
BJP's vote share has gone down from the last elections in Himachal Pradesh. The party managed to muster 43 percent voteshare, one percent less than Congress.
The victory is significant for the Congress nationally in view of the party's humiliating defeat in Gujarat and the major electoral setbacks that the party suffered in this year’s assembly polls in UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.
This is the first time when the Congress has won any election after the 2018 Assembly Polls in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh.
Quite an important aspect of the victory also remains that neither Sonia Gandhi nor Rahul Gandhi campaigned in the state. The party poll managers roped in Priyanka Gandhi, AICC general secretary who addressed six poll rallies.
The elections in Himachal Pradesh being held after the demise of party stalwart Virbhadra Singh, a six-time Chief Minister, has come as a booster dose for the Congress cadres in the state which is seems to be seeking new leadership to lead the new government.
The issue of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) came as the icing on the cake for Congress to pin down the BJP because government employees form a major chunk of the vote bank.
Rebel candidates also caused considerable damage to the BJP's prospects, making it lose at least 8 to 9 assembly seats.
More than half a dozen cabinet ministers including seniors like Suresh Bhardwaj, whose constituency was shifted from Shimla to Kasumpti lost due to the anti-incumbency factor against them.
Among the major Congress losers is former minister Kaul Singh, who was also CM post aspirant.
Three faces of the Congress – Pratibha Singh, wife of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, a former PCC president and Mukesh Agnihotri, leader of the opposition, have been the focus of the electorates voting for the change.
