Anger against Independents joining BJP helped Congress win Dehra, Nalagarh bypolls in Himachal Pradesh: Pratibha Singh

Shimla, July 13

There was anger among the electorate against the Independents who vacated their seats to join BJP, Himachal Pradesh Congress president Pratibha Singh said, claiming this to be a reason behind her party’s win in the Dehra and Nalagarh bypolls on Saturday. 

“We were confident of winning by-elections as anger among the electorate against the Independent MLAs was discernible after they resigned and joined BJP. The public was asking why they resigned when voters had elected them, defeating both the Congress and BJP,” Singh said. 

Fielding of good candidates for the seats also played a big role in the party’s victory, she added.

The Congress won the Dehra assembly seat for the first time on Saturday with its candidate Kamlesh Thakur, the wife of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, defeating BJP candidate Hoshiyar Singh by a margin of 9,399 votes. In Nalagarh, Congress’ Hardeep Singh Bawa won against BJP’s KL Thakur by 25,618 votes.  

BJP won the Hamirpur seat with its candidate Ashish Sharma polling 27,041 votes against Congress’ Pushpinder Verma 25,470 votes.

The byelections in all the three assembly constituencies were held on Wednesday. 

“The assembly byelections are being held in 13 seats across the country and INDI Alliance is leading in most of the seats, including two seats in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand, which is an indication that people are inclined towards the Congress,” Singh said.

She said that ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made a difference as he developed contact with people by trying to understand their feelings.

Singh alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made tall promises but did not implement them despite winning two consecutive elections. 

People were, therefore, convinced that the Congress is the only party which could solve their problems, she said.

The three assembly seats fell vacant after three Independent legislators — Singh (Dehra), Sharma (Hamirpur) and KL Thakur (Nalagarh) — who had voted in favour of BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls held on February 27, resigned from the state assembly on March 22 and joined the party the next day.

Their resignations, however, were accepted by the assembly speaker on June 3, and the seats were declared vacant, necessitating the byelections.

BJP fielded all the three former MLAs from their respective seats.

The Congress fielded Kamlesh Thakur from Dehra, repeated its candidate Pushpinder Verma from Hamirpur and gave ticket to five-time Indian National Trade Union Congress president, Himachal Pradesh unit, Hardeep Singh Bawa, from Nalagarh.