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Battles within undid Dhumal
Kangra charts Congress victory
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Anti-incumbency, Virbhadra factor did BJP in
Shanta Kumar faction wiped out in Kangra district
Setback for Cong in Hamirpur
Cong suffers setback in Sirmaur
Cong wrests Solan, Doon
Maheshwar lone winner for HLP
Hopes of Independents, HLP dashed
Women down to three in House
It’s 5 apiece in Mandi district
Winners of bypoll face defeat
Four make hat-trick in Una dist
Dismal show by Doon BJP candidate
Winner’s cousin dies during results
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Sonia to decide on leadership: Virbhadra
Shimla, December 20 “She reposed faith in me and handed me over the command of the party just days before the elections… and I have been able to accomplish the task assigned to me,” he said while thanking Gandhi for picking him for the job. “There was little time to organise things, as a lot of time was lost in the allotment of tickets. The people of the state expressed confidence in my leadership. I have full confidence in Gandhi, who has always honoured the sentiments of the people,” he said, leaving little doubt that the he was the front-runner for the top post. On if the charges framed in the audio CD case would come in his way of becoming the Chief Minister, he said he had himself opted to face the trial in the special court to get his name cleared. “I could have gone to the High Court and fought up to the Supreme Court, but it would have taken years. It was a politically motivated case based on false and fabricated evidence and I wanted a speedy trial to get justice. I am not convicted and, moreover, there are several leaders holding important positions against whom charges had been framed,” he said. Referring to the efforts put in during the campaign, he said he visited every nook and cranny of the state and held 90 meetings. During the entire period, he visited his newly adopted Shimla Rural constituency for just a few hours. There were several other senior leaders in the party who did not venture out of their constituencies even for an hour. “They tried to put the blame on me for their woes and complained that I had propped up Independents to undermine their prospects, which is not true. Tell me an election in which rebels have not been in the fray, it happens every time and to all parties. Look how many BJP rebels have been there, in addition to the HLP candidates,” he quipped. An experienced campaigner, the Raja from erstwhile princely state of Rampur Bushair was confident of winning the elections when The Tribune team met him at his residence before the elections. The BJP government had little to showcase as all it did over the five year period was to build up its leaders and party cadres rather provide succour to the common man. “Schools are without teachers, health institutions without doctors, roads are a picture of neglect and almost every section of the society is disillusioned,” he said. He asserted that the Congress government would not unleash the politics of vendetta unlike the Dhumal regime, which victimised political opponents, right from village pradhans to top leaders, and framed them in false cases. All cases of corruption and violation of land laws would be probed expeditiously. For this, special investigating teams and courts would be set up, he added. Leaving aside the issue of leadership tussle, he said: “It was my last election. If left to me, I will not contest either an Assembly or a parliamentary election. After completing the current term, I will devote my life to social service.”
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Battles within undid Dhumal
Shimla, December 20 The verdict against the saffron party has underscored the fact that fissures within the party ran much deeper than the party’s attempt to paper those over and proved crucial. The party’s tally of 26 seats points to the fact that the electorate is not overwhelmingly disenchanted with the Dhumal government. The Congress, which will be in the saddle, seemed to be facing the odds before the elections, given the performance of the party led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, a minor rebellion within the party in the state and the task of defending the scam-accused Virbhadra Singh. If one looks at poll statistics, four BJP rebels won as Independent candidates and one candidate of the breakaway Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) also emerged victorious. The party could have run close the Congress, which won 36 seats, if it had shown more alacrity in dealing with intra-party dissent. The BJP’s march to re-election suffered a death blow in Kangra, where bitter factionalism between the Shanta and Dhumal factions ensured dismal electoral returns in the politically most significant district. Of the 15 seats, the party won only three while the Congress won 10, which paved the way for its return to power. As in the past, the electoral performance of a party in Kangra is the bellwether for deciding its fortunes at the hustings. The gains made by the BJP in some Congress strongholds like Sirmaur and Chamba could not neutralise the setbacks suffered in Kangra. In addition, the HLP, though not proving electorally decisive, seemed to have huge nuisance value and ran a shrill campaign against the BJP. Its leaders drummed up allegations against Dhumal and his family and lost no opportunity in tarnishing the image of the government. The party high command chose to ignore the simmering dissidence and made no effort to bring them around. A majority of HLP leaders, who were Shanta loyalists, had sought a change of leadership in case the BJP wanted to perform well. The fact that the BJP cannot make it despite coming so close will haunt the party. The fact that the party which sweeps Kangra captures power has proved right once again and may lead to a blame game between the two factions. With Shanta Kumar having a say in ticket allotment in Kangra district, the BJP national vice-president and former Chief Minister may have a lot of explaining to do. With Kangra being Shanta’s home turf and Lok Sabha seat, Dhumal did not have much of a say in ticket distribution. Claims of some ‘winnable’ candidates were ignored only because Shanta loyalists were preferred, even if it meant giving a cakewalk to the Congress. The fact that the BJP did very well in Hamirpur parliamentary constituency, comprising Una, Bilaspur and Hamirpur districts, will give credence to the Dhumal group’s claim that Kangra dealt the body blow. On the personal front, the defeat despite the poll pundits indicating a close game has denied chief minister, P.K. Dhumal, the opportunity to join the illustrious league of his mentor Narendra Modi and other BJP Chief Ministers like Shivraj Singh Chohan and Raman Singh, who have worked their magic to ensure a repeat. Dhumal will have to contend with the fact that a non-Congress government is yet to create the history of a repeat in the state.
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Kangra charts Congress victory
Shimla, December 20 Political history of Himachal Pradesh points to the fact that the route to power in the hill state goes through Kangra, which has the highest number of 15 Assembly segments. The district, once known to be the citadel of the BJP, saw Shanta Kumar becoming the first non-Congress Chief Minister twice in 1977 and 1990. Riding high on the anti-incumbency factor and cashing in on the rivalry between warring Shanta and Dhumal factions in Kangra, the Congress doubled its tally from five in the 2007 elections to 10 this time. As such, Kangra once again played the deciding factor in the Congress win. The infighting in the ruling party cost the BJP dearly with two Independents, Manohar Dhiman and Pawan Kajal, both BJP rebels and Shanta loyalists, winning the Kangra and Indora seats. The best ever performance by any party in Kangra was in the 1990 elections when the BJP swept across 12 seats in Kangra under Shanta Kumar’s leadership. Interestingly, the Congress had won just one seat, while the Janata Dal had claimed three. In all, 16 seats were on offer then. In the 2007 elections, the BJP had wrested power from the Congress in the state by winning nine seats in Kangra, with Congress having to be content with five. One seat each had gone to the Bahujan Samaj Party (Kangra) and an Independent (Nurpur). In the 2003 elections, the Congress had done well by winning 11 seats, while the BJP had bagged four and an Independent one. The total number of seats in Kangra had been reduced to 15 this time as Thural was merged into the adjoining segments. Wins 6 in Shimla The Congress retained its hold over Shimla district by winning six of the eight seats. The BJP has been reduced to just one seat in the district, which is traditionally a Congress stronghold. One seat, Chopal, has been won by an independent, Balbir Verma. It’s even in Mandi The BJP and the Congress shared their exploits evenly in the middle belt of Mandi district, winning five seats each of the total 10.
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Anti-incumbency, Virbhadra factor did BJP in
Shimla, December 20 Despite facing charges in the CD case, Virbhadra stood tall as compared to Chief Minister PK Dhumal in the electoral arena and the game plan of the BJP to target him using the Virbhadra’s “pro-Himachali” image and the general impression that the BJP had been selling the land and vital economic interests of the state held the Congress in good stead. The Congress succeeded in convincing the people of the state that the BJP had put “Himachal Pradesh on sale” and the indiscriminate opening of private universities, award of eco-tourism projects in violation of the Forest Conservation Act and large-scale permissions under Section 118 of the Land Reforms and Tenancy Act to outsiders only substantiated the charge. The Congress all through maintained that the BJP had only promoted the interests of the land mafia in the garb of making the state a hub of higher education. The charges of corruption and nepotism against Dhumal and his cricketer-son Anurag Thakur, particularly the affairs of the state cricket association, added to the woes of the ruling party. In fact, a major part of the 50-point charge-sheet of the Congress against the government was devoted to Dhumal, his son and ministers close to him. The BJP plan of discrimination by the Congress-led UPA regime against the state also failed to cut ice with the electorate, as Union Minister Anand Sharma effectively rebutted the charge by giving details of the funds provided under various Central schemes over the past five years. The Dhumal government faced a “credibility crisis” as its tall claims and the hype created by publicising awards did not match with the achievements on the ground. The failure to fill posts of doctors, teachers and other staff, neglect of roads and other vital infrastructure provided enough evidence of its lack of performance.
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Shanta Kumar faction wiped out in Kangra district
Dharamsala, December 20 The faction had dominated ticket allotment in the district. Shanta loyalists had got the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket from Baijnath, Palampur, Sullah, Dharamsala, Jwalamukhi, Indora, Nurpur, Nagrota Bagwan and Jawali constituencies. All nine candidates lost. Their defeat is being considered as a vital factor in the Congress coming to power. In constituencies like Nurpur, the main contest was between a BJP rebel and the Congress candidate.
In Nurpur, Rakesh Pathania was denied the party ticket, allegedly under the influence of Shanta Kumar. The ticket was given to Ranbir Singh Nikka, who could garner only 6,868 votes. Pathania got 23,179 votes, losing to Congress candidate Ajay Mahajan by 3,367 votes. On the contrary, in Dehra subdivision of Kangra district, which falls in the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency, the BJP won two of the three Assembly constituencies. Irrigation and Public Health Minister Ravinder Ravi won from Dehra and Bikram Thakur from Jaswan-Pragpur. Both are Chief Minister PK Dhumal loyalists. Dhawala was the only Shanta loyalist given the party ticket in Dehra subdivision, from Jwalamukhi. He lost to Sanjay Rattan of the Congress by about 4,000 votes. That the BJP erred in choice of candidates is illustrated from the fact that two BJP rebels, Pawan Kajal from Kangra and Manohar Dhiman from Indora, won as Independent candidates.
Minister for Social Security Sarveen Chaudhary won from Shahpur by 3,123 votes. She defeated Congress stalwart Vijay Singh Mankotia, who had returned to the Congress just a month before the elections after his patch-up with state Congress president Virbhadra Singh. Infighting in the BJP is likely to intensify after the results. Leaders of the Dhumal faction are likely to target Shanta Kumar for wrong ticket allotment, that failed ‘Mission Repeat’ of the BJP. While the BJP has done well in other districts, it won only three of the 15 constituencies in Kangra district, considered to be the bastion of Shanta Kumar. The results are likely to draw the curtains on the Shanta faction in the state
BJP. Factionalism was evident from the fact that Dhumal had not campaigned in the constituencies from where Shanta loyalists were contesting. He attributed his absence from campaigning in many constituencies of the district to not being invited from leaders of the The district has maintained its tradition of voting against the ruling party. The anti-incumbency factor weighed heavily yet again. It remains to be seen how much share of power Kangra gets in the Congress government.
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Setback for Cong in Hamirpur
Hamirpur, December 20 Two-term MLA and state secretary of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s defeat at the hands of Vijay Agnihotri by 6,750 votes in the Nadaun Assembly constituency is a big setback for Sukhu and the Congress. The lone Congress MLA in Hamirpur, Sukhu was aspiring to get important ministry in the Congress government and party The defeat of All-India president of the Mahila Congress and two-time MLA Anita Verma at the hands of an Independent Rajender Rana by a huge margin of 14,666
votes in the Sujanpur constituency is also a major upset for the party. Congress candidate Narender Thakur, contesting from the Hamirpur constituency against Chief Minister PK Dhumal, has also faced fourth consecutive defeat in the elections. Narender Thakur, son of former BJP stalwart Jagdev Chand Thakur, who had jumped into the Congress to avenge his humiliation in the BJP at the hands of Dhumal after the death of his father, had to taste a humble pie in the election after losing the seat by 9,302 votes. Ramesh Chand Dogra, a new Congress candidate in the Bhoranj Assembly constituency, also could not perform as per expectations and lost by 10,415 votes against Education Minister ID Dhiman. The only solace for the Congress in Hamirpur district is the victory of Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, who has dislodged three-time MLA Baldev Sharma in the Badsar constituency by a margin of 2,658 votes. |
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Third straight win for Bali
Kangra, December 20 Former Transport Minister GS Bali won from Nagrota Bagwan for the third consecutive term. He defeated his nearest rival, Arun Kumar, an Independent candidate, by 2,743 votes. From Kangra constituency, BJP rebel Pawan Kajal won by 563 votes, defeating his nearest rival Surender Kumar of the Congress. Surender Kumar is a Virbhadra Singh loyalist. Former Irrigation and Public Health Minister Ravinder Singh Ravi defeated Congress rebel Yog Raj by 15,293 votes. Bikram Thakur of the BJP won from Jaswan-Pragpur, defeating sitting legislator Nikhil Rajour by 6,093 votes. In Jwalamukhi, Sanjay Rattan, a Virbhadra Singh loyalist, defeated former Food and Civil Supplies Minister Ramesh Dhawala, a Shanta Kumar loyalist, by 4,025 votes.
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Cong suffers setback in Sirmaur
Nahan, December 20 The BJP, however, improved its position by bagging the highest - three seats while one seat was won by Congress rebel Kirnesh Jung. The BJP lost two seats of Paonta Sahib and Renuka by a narrow margin of 790 and 655 votes, respectively. The results proved to be a major setback for senior Congress leaders, including former Speaker GR Musafir, who was vying for his seventh victory from Pacchad, and Harshwardhan Chauhan, who was endeavouring to wrest the Shillai seat for the fifth consecutive time. BJP’s general secretary and former Health Minister Rajeev Bindal registered an impressive victory by trouncing Kush Parmar of the Congress, who besides being the sitting MLA is also the son of the state’s first Chief Minister, from the Nahan seat. Bindal polled 25,459 votes as against 12,635 secured by Parmar and won by a margin of 12,824. His gamble of shifting to another district after his home constituency of Solan was reserved paid him and he led the BJP to victory for the first-time from the Nahan seat. Bindal not only procured lead in 97 of the 102 booths but also managed to maintain an upper hand in the Muslim-dominated areas contrary to estimates. While Bindal’s absence in Solan cost the BJP dear, his presence in Sirmaur ensured the party’s victory in three seats in Sirmaur. In Paonta Sahib, Congress rebel Kirnesh Jung, who contested as an Independent trounced BJP’s two-time MLA Sukh Ram by a margin of 790 votes. Jung polled 23,713 votes while Sukh Ram secured 22,923 and the Congress’ official nominee finished a poor third by securing 6,152 votes and also forfeited his security. In Shillai, BJP’s Baldev Tomar sprung a surprise by trouncing Congress’ senior leader and four-time MLA Harshwardhan by a margin of 1,918 votes. Though Tomar had forfeited his security in the 2007 Vidhan Sabha poll, he not only improved considerably but it appears the realignment of the constituency following the delimitation proved beneficial to him. Tomar polled 23,455 votes while Chauhan secured 21,537 votes. In Pacchad, BJP’s Suresh Kashyap humbled Congress’ six-time MLA GR Musafir by a margin of 1,813 votes. Kashyap, who was contesting his third poll, bagged 23,661 as against 21,848 secured by Musafir. The Renuka seat appeared to be the lone saving grace for the Congress where its nominee Vinay Kumar won by a narrow margin of 655 votes defeating the BJP’s Hriday Ram who had ousted the Congress for the first time from this seat in previous year’s byelection. Vinay Kumar polled 21,332 votes while Hriday Ram secured 20,677 votes.
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Cong wrests Solan, Doon
Solan, December 20 Congress’ Dhani Ram Shandil won the newly reserved Solan seat by polling 24,250 votes as against 19,778 polled by BJP’s first-time candidate Sheila Kumari. In Kasauli, BJP’s sitting MLA Dr Rajiv Sehzal barely held on to his seat defeating Congress’ first-timer Vinod Sultanpuri by just 24 votes. Sehzal polled votes 19,960, while Sultanpuri, son of six-time Congress MP KD Sultanpuri, polled 19,936 votes. The BJP also retained the Arki seat with MLA Govind Ram beating Congress’ first-timer Sanjay Awasthy by 2,075 votes. Sharma polled 17,211 votes and Awasthy 15,136. Doon saw the most interesting contest where Congress’ first-timer Ramkumar Chowdhary bagged 15,520 votes to defeat BJP rebel Darshan Saini, who polled 11,690 votes as an Independent. Nalagarh proved to be the icing on the cake for the BJP, as party nominee KL Thakur not only wrested the seat from Congress’ Lakhwinder Rana, who won the seat in last year’s byelection, but also registered the highest winning margin of 9,308 votes in the district. Thakur polled 35,341 votes as against Rana’s 26,033, while four others managed to grab 2,124 votes.
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Maheshwar lone winner for HLP
Kullu, December 20 He pushed the BJP in a corner as the party lost two seats to the Congress. The BJP had won the three seats in 2007. Maheshwar’s influence could not cut much ice as all other HLP candidates in Mandi and Kullu districts lost their deposits and did not act as spoilsport. He said, “We are happy that in a limited time, people gave us their support as they wanted change of power. The BJP lost badly in Kangra, its stronghold, to the Congress. This shows that the BJP is not being run well in Kangra and there is a big question big mark over it.” The Congress won two seats, Banjar and Anni. Gobind Thakur, sitting BJP legislator who had shifted to Manali, a new constituency carved out after delimitation, won from there. He took advantage of the presence in the fray of Congress rebel Dharamvir Dhami. In the tribal constituency of Lahaul-Spiti, Ravi Thakur of the Congress defeated Dr Ram Lal Markanday of the BJP by 3,796 votes. All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi had kicked off his campaign there. Two each, suspense in Bhattiyat Dharamsala/Chamba: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won from Chamba and Churah constituencies while the Congress won from Dalhousie and Bharmour constituencies in Chamba district. Though the BJP candidate from Bhattiyat won by a slender margin of 226 votes, recounting was continuing till the time of filing of this report. From Chamba, BK Chauhan of the BJP defeated Pawan Nayar of the Congress by 1,934 votes. Congress rebel Raj Singh dealt a severe dent to the prospects of the Congress, securing 10,813 votes. In the initial counting for Bhattiyat, BJP candidate Bikram Singh Jaryal defeated sitting Congress legislator Kuldeep Singh Pathania even though BJP rebel Bhupinder Singh Chauhan secured 9,647 votes. Congress stalwart and former Minister Asha Kumari has won the elections from the Dalhousie Assembly constituency by a huge margin of 7,365 votes routing the sitting BJP MLA Renu Chadha. Asha secured 25,541 votes while Renu Chadha got 18,176 votes. Asha won for the fifth time from the Dalhousie Assembly segment that was earlier named as the Banikhet Assembly constituency. BJP candidate Hans Raj has won the elections from the Churah Assembly constituency (SC-reserved) defeating Congress candidate Surinder Bhardwaj by a margin of 2,211 votes. Hans Raj won the elections for the first time and got 24,978 votes while Surinder Bhardwaj got 22,767 votes. Congress candidate of the Bharmour Assembly constituency (ST-reserved) Thakur Singh Bharmouri has captured the tribal seat from BJP candidate Jia Lal by 3,476 votes. Bharmouri obtained 24,751 votes while his nearest contender Jia Lal obtained 21,284 votes. Jia Lal contested the elections for the first time but could not succeed.
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Hopes of Independents, HLP dashed
Shimla, December 20 Even though five Independents and one HLP candidate won, with the Congress not being dependent on them for forming the government, their hopes of holding the balance of power have been dashed. The last one-month after the polling on November 4 saw the Independents engaged in hectic lobbying in anticipation of a fractured mandate. Though both the Congress and the BJP had at least a dozen each formidable rebels queering the pitch for nominees, it is the ruling party which felt the heat as four of their men who were denied ticket won as Independents. Four BJP rebels, Pawan Kajal (Kangra), Manohar Dhiman (Indora), Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur) and Balbir Verma (Chopal), won the elections. At the same time, only one Congress rebel Karnesh Jung from Paonta Sahib trounced the party’s official nominee. The last Assembly elections in 2007 had three Independent legislators, Rakesh Pathania (Nurpur), Rakesh Verma (Theog) and Hira Lal (Karsog), who later became BJP associate members. Out of a total of 106 Independent candidates who were in the fray this time, six tasted victory. In the last polls in 2007, there were three Independents and one BSP legislator. Apprehensions about the HLP playing the spoilsport and making a major dent into the BJP vote bank did not really hold true as the outfit floated by the ruling party dissidents could win only one seat even though five other Independents, mostly rebels from the Congress and the BJP marched their way into the Vidhan Sabha. Even in terms of making a dent into the BJP votebank, it is barely half a dozen HLP candidates like Nand Lal (8,340 votes) from Anni in Kullu, Udho Ram (7,049) from Baijnath, Naveen Dhiman (6,982), Shyama Sharma (5,240) from Nahan and Chet Ram Negi (2,240) whose performance was decent. Despite fielding 36 candidates, in most segments HLP nominees had a mere token presence. Despite tall claims, the HLP, floated by the BJP breakaway group, managed to win only one seat of Kullu with its state convener Maheshwar Singh opening the account of the new outfit. It is only in two places Anni in Kullu district and Baijnath in Kangra where the presence of the HLP candidates ensured that the Congress won. As such more than the HLP candidates, it is the BJP rebels who dealt the real blow to the ruling party. This includes former minister Roop Singh (Sundernagar) who polled 15,268 votes pushing the BJP nominee to the third place.
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Women down to three in House
Shimla, December 20 The previous Assembly of 2007 had a total of five women legislators - Vidya Stokes from the Congress and Sarveen Chaudhary, Urmil Thakur, Renu Chadha and Vinod Chandel from the BJP. The Congress had fielded four women candidates from Theog, Dalhousie, Seraj and Sujanpur. The BJP had pitted seven women candidates from Chopal, Doon, Dalhousie, Suajnpur, Shahpur, Solan and Indora. — TNS
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It’s 5 apiece in Mandi district
Voters placed the BJP and the Congress on an even keel, giving them five seats each. The three sitting ministers won by reduced margins, with Transport Minister Mahender Singh Thakur scraping through by a margin of 1,041 votes. Congress chief ministerial aspirant Kaul Singh Thakur won by a narrow margin of 2,232 votes. He got elected for the seventh time. Virbhadra Singh had campaigned in Sarkaghat, Dharampur, Jogindernagar, Sundernagar, Balh and Karsog. The Congress won three of those seats. Public Works Department Minister Gulab Singh Thakur retained the Jogindernagar seat, winning by 5,916 votes. CPM candidate Kushal Bhardwaj and Sangh-supported Independent candidate Ajay Dharwal played spoilsport for the Congress, cornering most of the 6,000 anti-BJP votes. In Seraj, Rural Development Minister Jai Ram Thakur retained his seat for the third time, winning by 4,749 votes. Congress candidate Anil Sharma, son of former Union Telecommunications Minister Sukh Ram, retained the Mandi seat, winning by 3,930 votes. In Sundernagar, Sohan Lal Thakur of the Congress won by 8,990 votes. In Karsog, party hopper Mansa Ram won by 4,332 votes. Sukh Ram and Virbhadra Singh had campaigned for him. The BJP sprang a surprise in Nachan as first-timer Vinod Kumar won. Damodar Chauhan played the spoilsport for Congress candidate Tek Chand Dogra, a Virbhadra loyalist.
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Winners of bypoll face defeat
Solan, December 20 Facing anti-incumbency factor barely after a year’s stint, the two MLAs - Hriday Ram of the BJP from Renuka (reserved) and Congress’ Lakhwinder Rana from Nalagarh - failed to find the favour of voters again. The results of the last year’s byelections had proved that people did not act on the sympathy factor and voted for the first-timers and chose new candidates over the traditional winners. While the wife of BJP’s three-time MLA HN Saini had failed to win the favour of voters in the byelections in Renuka, the Congress’ six-time MLA Dr Prem Singh’s son, Vinay Kumar of the Congress, had also failed to encash the sympathy factor last year. The trend had reversed again and while Vinay Kumar had won albeit by a slender margin of 655 from Renuka, first-timer KL Thakur of the BJP had trounced Congress candidate Lakhwinder Rana in Nalagarh by an impressive margin of 9,308 votes, which was the highest in the district. The BJP has fielded a new candidate from Nalagarh. Rana had won the byelections last year by a margin of 1,599 votes.
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Four make hat-trick in Una dist
Una/Hamirpur, December 20 While the party retained Una and Kutlehar seats, BJP MLA Balbir Chaudhary lost in Chintpurni. Chaudhary was forced to shift to this constituency after the last delimitation. Chaudhary lost to Kuldeep Kumar of the Congress by a slender margin of 438 votes. Four out of five candidates in Una district made a hat-trick of victory in the Assembly elections. In Una constituency, Satpal Singh Satti won his third election in a row by defeating Congress candidate Sat Pal Raizada by 4,746 votes. Another BJP candidate, Virender Kanwar, also won his third consecutive election from the Kutlehar constituency, this time beating Congress rival Ram Dass Malangar by 1,744 votes. Congress strongman Mukesh Agnihotri also registered his third straight win in Haroli constituency, defeating Ram Kumar of the BJP by 5172 votes. Another Congressman Rakesh Kalia who had to shift to Gagret constituency after reservation of his Chintpurni seat also won his third election in a row, defeating BJP candidate Suresh Kalia by 4,897 votes.
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Dismal show by Doon BJP candidate
Solan, December 20 She not only remained the fourth behind the Congress’ official candidate Ramkumar Chowdhary who won from Doon but also lagged behind the two rebels from the BJP, Darshan Saini and the Congress’ Paramjeet Singh, and could procure a mere 8,584 votes. Chandel could not even gain lead from her own booth of Swaraj Majra Labana where she got 22 votes out of the total 309 polled. Out of which, 100 were secured by the Congress, 28 by Darshan Saini and 156 by Paramjeet Singh.
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Winner’s cousin dies during results
Hamirpur, December 20 Lakhanpal, Headmaster of Government Senior Secondary School, Lathiani, had come to know the poll results at Hamirpur. He was standing in the ground of the school when he suffered a massive heart attack. — TNS |
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Congress stages comeback
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wordict
The decisive victory of the Congress is an endorsement of the flagship programmes of the UPA initiated by Soniaji and implemented by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The people were fed up with the non-performance of the corrupt and anti-employee BJP government, which surrendered hundreds of crores of development funds provided by the Centre.
The type of government people want is their prerogative, and they have elected who they preferred. The BJP tried to do good for every section of society, but today’s verdict shows there must have been lapses. We hope the new government will serve the voters as per their expectations. |
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Having steered the party to victory in the Assembly elections, PCC chief Virbhadra Singh was modest about staking his claim to the post of Chief Minister and maintained that Congress president Sonia Gandhi would take a call on the leadership issue.
The defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has exposed the internecine battles that pitched Chief Minister PK Dhumal against arch-rival Shanta Kumar on one hand and the breakaway group of the party on the other.
Una/Hamirpur, December 20
Mandi, December 20
