HP Bypolls: Jolt to BJP as Congress Wins Mandi Lok Sabha, all 3 Assembly Seats
Representational Image. Image Courtesy: The Indian Express
Shimla: In a setback to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Himachal Pradesh, the opposition Congress won all three Assembly seats of Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai and the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, where bypolls were held on October 30.
The Congress retained Fatehpur and Arki Assembly seats while it wrested Jubbal-Kotkhai seat from BJP, according to poll results announced by the Election Commission on Tuesday.
In Mandi, former chief minister Virbhadra Singh's wife Pratibha Singh defeated BJP’s Brigadier Khushal Thakur, a Kargil war hero.
In the 2019 parliamentary polls, BJP's Ram Swaroop Sharma had emerged victorious by a whopping 4,05,000 votes.
Congress candidates Bhawani Singh Pathania, Sanjay and Rohit Thakur won from Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai Assembly constituencies, respectively.
State Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on moral grounds after the BJP's defeat.
He told reporters that the Congress has won the "semifinal" and will also emerge victorious in the Assembly elections in December next year.
CM Jairam Thakur Should Quit: Congress
Invigorated by the victory in the bypolls to all three Assembly segments and the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, the Congress on Tuesday demanded Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur's resignation while BJP said it would introspect the causes of its defeat.
Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Kuldeep Singh Rathore sought the resignation of CM Jai Ram Thakur on moral grounds. "Thakur even failed to retain the BJP's seat in his home district Mandi," Rathore underscored.
He described the bypolls as "semifinal" and exuded confidence that the Congress would win the Assembly elections scheduled for December next year.
In a tweet, the in-charge of Congress' Himachal Pradesh affairs Sanjay Dutt said: "This is a vote for change, against the anti-people policies of the BJP's Union and Himachal Pradesh governments. It is a mandate expressing people's solidarity with the pro-people stance of our leaders Soniaji and Rahul Gandhi ji."
On the other side, CM Thakur alleged that some BJP workers operated against the party candidates. "Action will be taken against them," he said.
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