Himachal continues its trend of alternating governments, Congress set to return to power

Shimla: As the counting of votes for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections progresses, the Congress inched closer to victory, safely crossing the halfway mark to form the government in the hill state.

Congress was poised to form government in Himachal Pradesh according to the results and trends of the counting of votes on Thursday. Congress is slated to win 40 of 68 seats, having won 39 and leading on one. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won 18 seats and is leading on 7. Independents have won 3 seats and AAP failed to open its account in the state.

In terms of vote share in Himachal, Congress is only marginally ahead of the BJP having 43.90 per cent of votes compared to 42.99 per cent of its arch-rival. Others have garnered a 10.4 per cent vote share in the hill state.

In Churah, BJP got 32,095 votes won by a margin of 2,642 votes. In Bharmour, BJP secured 30,336 votes and won by a margin of 5,172 votes.
In Chamba constituency, Congress logged a victory by a margin of 7,782 votes. In Dalhousie, BJP won by a margin of 9,918 votes.

Congress won Bhattiyat constituency by a margin of 1,567 votes. The party won Lahaul Spiti seat by a margin of 1,616 votes. Here the party got 9,948 votes.
In Nurpur constituency, BJP got 44,132 votes and won by a margin of 18,752 votes.

Congress emerged victorious in Indora seat by a margin of 2,250 seats. In Fatehpur, Congress got 33,238 votes and won by a margin of 7,354. In Jawali seat, Congress logged a victory by a margin of 3,031 seats. The party secured 38,243 votes in the seat. BJP won Sukah seat by 6,802 votes. In Jaisinghpur, Congress won by a margin of 2,696 votes.

Congress won the Dehra seat by a margin of 3,877 votes. It got 22,997 votes here. BJP managed to win the Jaswan seat with a margin of 1,789 votes. BJP got 22,658 votes here.

In Dharamshala, Congress got 27,323 votes and won by a margin of 3,285 while the party emerged victorious in Palampur by a margin of 5,328 votes. In Kangra constituency, BJP leads by a margin of 19,834 votes. Congress won the Nagrota constituency with a margin of 15,892 votes.

In Shahpur, Congress won by a margin of 12,243 votes. The party won the Bajinath constituency with a margin of 29,338 votes.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Himachal Pradesh outgoing Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur tendered his resignation conceding defeat in the state with the latest trends predicting Congress is set to form government in Himachal Pradesh.

Outgoing Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur reached Raj Bhawan in Shimla to tender his resignation to Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar.
Thakur said that he would never stop working for the development of people and would go to Delhi if called.

"I have handed over my resignation to the Governor. I will never stop working for the development of people. We need to analyse things. There were some issues that changed the direction of the results. I will go to Delhi if they call us," said Outgoing Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur. The Congress, which had not projected a Chief Ministerial candidate in the hill state, is planning a meeting of its MLAs in Chandigarh with some of its leaders apprehending "poaching" attempts by the BJP.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra has contributed to the party's performance in the hill state.

"We have won the Himachal elections. I want to thank the people, our workers and leaders as due to their efforts this result has come. I want to thank Priyanka Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra also helped us with this. Sonia Gandhi's blessings are also with us," Kharge told reporters.
"Our observers and in-charge secretaries are going there (Himachal Pradesh) and they will decide when to meet Governor and call a meeting of (Congress MLAs)," said the Congress chief. (ANI)