HP polls: BJP seizes hill state from Congress winning 44 seats

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India] Dec 18 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stood victorious in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections with 44 seats, while the Congress acquired 20 seats in the total 68 constituencies.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) and Independent won one seat each.

BJP's chief ministerial face Prem Kumar Dhumal lost his Sujanpur seat to Congress rival Rajinder Singh Rana by about 3,500 votes.

Though his party could not retain power in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh managed to win from Arki with a lower margin of 6051 votes defeating BJP candidate Rattan Singh Pal.

The state witnessed a record 75.28 percent voter turnout.

Meanwhile, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Himachal Pradesh Pushpendra Rajput said the polling was conducted peacefully and no cases of EVM tampering were witnessed.

Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh, son of Chief Minister Virbhhadra Singh, won his first Assembly election from Shimla rural with a margin of 4,880 votes.

Congress candidate Anirudh Singh won from the Kasumpti constituency by defeating BJP's Vijay Jyoti with a margin of 9,397 votes.

The BJP is all set to form the government in the hill state.

Meanwhile, the newly elected Congress President Rahul Gandhi today accepted the "verdict of the people" and expressed his gratitude towards the Congress Party workers for their efforts.

The counting of votes for 68 Assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh and 182 constituencies in Gujarat began at 8 am today. (ANI)