Himachal Pradesh Results 2017: Virbhadra accepts Congress' defeat
IANS | December 18, 2017 16:30 ISTSix-time Chief Minister, Singh, who won his Arki seat with a margin of 6,051 votes, blamed the party's central leadership for lack of campaigning.
Six-time Chief Minister, Singh, who won his Arki seat with a margin of 6,051 votes, blamed the party's central leadership for lack of campaigning.
The Himachal Pradesh electorate has a history of playing the anti-incumbency card and flipping the party in power every five years - making BJP's win in Himachal a surety from the start.
The giant slayer, who defeated two time former chief minister, is incidentally his protege-turned-bete noire Rajinder Rana.
According to Election Commission data, BJP had won 48.5 per cent or 9,86,592 till 11:30 am, while Congress had earned 41.8 per cent or 8,50,018 votes till that time.
The fate of 337 candidates including Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his predecessor Prem Kumar Dhumal will be known by the end of counting.
The BJP is set to wrest power in Himachal Pradesh with its candidates on a victory lap in 40 of the 68 seats in the Assembly elections on Monday.
In Himachal Pradesh, BJP is enjoying a landslide victory, if exit polls are to be believed. The halfway mark in the 68 seat assembly is 35.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who returned to Shimla after 18 days, dismissed the exit poll results, saying he could well read the mood of the people of the state and the actual results would be opposite to the exit poll projections.
While Congress has invested heavily to upset Bharatiya Janata Party's 22-year-long rule in PM Modi's home state, it has barely spent on saving its fort Himachal Pradesh.
A highest ever polling of 74.61 per cent was recorded in the state in 2017 assembly polls and women outnumbered men in polling by about 1 lakh votes.
The Election Commission of India on Sunday said that VVPAT machines will be used along with EVMs in the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat.
The political history of Himachal Pradesh suggests that the state has never voted the ruling party back to power in quick succession right from the time it attained full statehood on 25 January 1971, except once.
Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena informed that the previous highest polling percentage of 73.5 was recorded in the 2012 assembly polls. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, it was 64.45 per cent.
PM Modi tweeted on Thursday urging people of Himachal Pradesh to vote in 'record numbers' for the underway assembly elections.
The Congress and the BJP have fielded candidates on all 68 seats, while the BSP and the CPI-M have fielded 42 and 14 candidates respectively.
The stage is set for the single-phase polls on sixty-eight Assembly seats in Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh on Thursday.
While Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will be contesting elections from Arki constituency, his son Vikramaditya Singh will be trying his luck from Shimla Rural constituency.
A total of 50.25 lakh electorate, including 19 lakh women and 14 transgenders, will exercise their franchise. Polling in the state will be held from 8 am to 5 pm and web-casting will be used in 2,307 polling stations.
The BJP has declared Prem Kumar Dhumal (73), a two-time former CM, as its chief ministerial candidate. On the other hand, the Congress has declared incumbent CM Virbhardra Singh (83) as its leader.
The election for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly constituency is scheduled to be held on November 9, 2017. The counting of votes will be done on December 18, 2017.
Himachal Pradesh goes to polls tomorrow with the Congress and the BJP locking horns in all 68 constituencies.
Campaigning for the November 9 Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh is coming to an end today.
He also accused Modi of speaking "selectively" on the issue of corruption and demanded to know where the jobs that the BJP had promised were.
Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that Pm Modi has his own interpretation of a saying from the Bhagvad Gita, and that he believes “in eating up fruits of others’ labour”.
Expressing his faith in the poll panel, Virbhadra Singh said the period between voting and counting is long, assurance for proper safety of the machines is required.
Surjewala's remarks come days after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi dubbed the Goods and Services Tax "Gabbar Singh Tax" during a rally in Gujarat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday termed the upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections as a “one-sided contest” for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Accusing the Congress government of establishing a mafia raj, Prem Kumar Dhumal said that Virbhadra Singh turned this "dev bhumi", the land of gods, into "drug bhumi and crime bhumi".
Top News
Election Videos
Election so far...
