Himachal Pradesh election result: Independent candidate Hoshyar Singh wins from Dehra

Defeats Congress rival Rajesh Sharma by 4,024 votes, while BJP candidate Ramesh Dhawala ends up third

Independent candidate Hoshyar Singh won the Dehra assembly seat on Thursday, defeating his Congress rival Rajesh Sharma in the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections even as counting is underway in other constituencies.

Independent candidate Hoshyar Singh won the Dehra assembly seat on Thursday, defeating his Congress rival Rajesh Sharma by 4,024 votes in the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections. (HT file photo)

Hoshyar Singh defeated Rajesh Sharma by 4,024 votes, according to the Election Commission website.

Hoshyar Singh, an Independent MLA, had joined the BJP just before the November 12 assembly elections in the state, but he was denied the party ticket. The BJP shifted Ravinder Singh Ravi, a loyalist of Prem Kumar Dhumal, to Jwalamukhi. The sitting legislator from Jwalamukhi, Ramesh Dhawala, was in turn shifted to Dehra in place of sitting MLA Hoshyar Singh.

Dhawala finished third. He had won the 2017 elections from Jwalamukhi, while Ravi lost to Hoshyar Singh in Dehra. Singh, whom the BJP had inducted in June, much to the dismay of Ravi and the block BJP unit, was denied the ticket to prevent a revolt by the former minister.

Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur was keen on fielding Hoshyar Singh from Dehra but according to sources former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his son and Union minister Anurag Singh Thakur were against any such move.