In a setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress wins all three Himachal Pradesh Assembly seats that went for bypolls last week, as well as the bypoll for a Lok Sabha seat.
Congress candidate Pratibha Singh, who is the wife of the late former six-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, on Tuesday won Mandi parliamentary seat against BJP candidate and Kargil war hero Brigadier (retd) Khushal Chand Thakur.Â
Mandi being the home district of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, it was a litmus test for Thakur to ensure the victory of BJP candidate Chand Thakur, who tried his luck for the first time. The saffron party mounted a high-profile election campaign over the past weeks, with the Chief Minister and Union Minister Anurag Thakur among those speaking at its rallies.
The Mandi seat was previously held by the BJP and the bypoll triggered after the death of MP Ram Swaroop Sharma in March.
In Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly seat, Rohit Thakur of the Congres won over his nearest rival Chetan Singh Bragta, a rebel BJP candidate contesting as an independent candidate. The BJP candidate for that seat – Neelam Seraik – secured less than 2,600 votes and is likely to lose her deposit. The bypoll for this seat was necessitated because sitting BJP MLA Narinder Bragta died in June.
In Fatehpur, has retained the seat left empty after the death of his father – MLA and former minister Sujan Singh Pathania.
In Arki, Congress candidate Sanjay won over BJP’s Rattan Singh Pal.
The bypolls for Mandi parliamentary and the three assembly seats were held on October 30.
