The BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal has lost Sujanpur assembly seat to Congress’ Rajinder Rana.
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh (left) and BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal. Credit: PTI
| Party | Lead | Win | L+W/68 | 2017 Voteshare | 2012 Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BJP | 14 | 30 | 44 | 48% | 26(38%) |
| INC | 4 | 17 | 21 | 41% | 36(43%) |
| OTH | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11% | 6(18%) |
#HimachalPradeshElections2017: Pradesh: Workers celebrate at party office in Shimla as trends indicate BJP’s victory in the state. pic.twitter.com/0SlktZd6J1
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2017
The Bharatiya Janata Party will form the next government in Himachal Pradesh. Counting of the votes began at 8 am today in 48 centres set up across the state.
Elections to the 68-seat Himachal Pradesh assembly were held on November 9 with a 74% voter turnout. A party needs 35 seats to be able to form a government in the state. Exit polls predicted the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory over the Congress by a two-thirds majority.
In a big shock to the BJP, the party’s chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal has lost Sujanpur assembly seat to Congress’ Rajinder Rana.
Personal loss is not of much importance.The gain that victory has brought to state BJP is important. Thankful to people of the state for voting for BJP. In politics, sometimes one wins, sometimes one loses. I was not expecting to lose, I will do an analysis: PK Dhumal #Himachal pic.twitter.com/7UrumoxVhp
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2017
Six-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh won his Arki seat with a margin of 6,051 votes. He said he accepts responsibility for the Congress’ performance in the elections.
I accept the victory of BJP. I, being the CM, take full responsibility of our performance here. I hope Vikramaditya (Singh) keeps winning in future, like he won today: Virbhadra Singh #HimachalPradesh pic.twitter.com/ImNkW32qdy
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2017
Satpal Singh Raizada and Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress party have won from Una and Shimla rural constituencies, respectively.
In Theog, CPI(M) candidate Rakesh Singh won over his closest rival, Rakesh Verma of the BJP.
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The Times Now-VMR and Zee News-Axis exit polls had predicted that the BJP would win 51 of the total 68 assembly seats in the state. While the Times Now-VMR exit poll gave 16 seats to the Congress and one to another, the Zee News-Axis poll gave 17 seats to the party in power in Shimla. The Aaj Tak-Axis exit poll gave 47-55 seats to the saffron party, 13-20 to the Congress and 0-2 to others. Among other exit polls, the News X survey predicted that the BJP would win 42-50 seats and the Congress 18-24.
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The Congress dismissed the exit polls results. “I am confident that ‘mission repeat’ would be achieved and tall claims made by the BJP would be proved wrong,” said Singh. People in the hill state have been alternating between the Congress and the BJP in assembly elections every five years. In the 2012 election, the Congress came to power by winning 36 seats, while the BJP got 26 seats and others bagged the remaining six. The 2012 assembly elections saw a 73.5% voter turnout.