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Himachal Pradesh bypolls: Congress sweeps Mandi Lok Sabha, all 3 assembly seats
Singh, wife of former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh defeated Kargil war veteran Brigadier Khushal Thakur.
Ahead of the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections next year, the Congress on Tuesday secured major victories in the bypolls which were held on October 30. It not only wrested the Mandi Lok Sabha seat from ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but also won all three assembly seats - Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai.
Congress candidate Pratibha Singh won by 7,490 votes from Mandi, defeating Khushal Thakur of the BJP. Singh, wife of former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh defeated Kargil war veteran Brigadier Khushal Thakur. In the 2019 parliamentary polls, BJP's Ram Swaroop Sharma had emerged victorious by a whopping 4,05,000 votes. In Jubbal-Kotkhai, Congress' Rohit Thakur emerged as the victor by 6,293 votes.
Congress also retained Fatehpur and Arki legislative assembly constituencies where its candidates Bhawani Singh and Sanjay Awasthi emerged victorious respectively. While Singh defeated his BJP rival Baldev Thakur by 5,789 votes in Fatehpur, Awasthi defeated the saffron party's Rattan Pal by 3, 219 votes.
Congress, invigorated with these wins, demanded the resignation of Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on moral grounds. “Thakur even failed to retain the BJP's seat in his home district Mandi,” Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Kuldeep Singh Rathore said.
“This is a vote for change, against the anti-people policies of the BJP's Union and Himachal Pradesh governments. It is a mandate expressing people's solidarity with the pro-people stance of our leaders Soniaji and Rahul Gandhi ji,” Congress Himachal Pradesh in-charge Sanjay Dutt.
Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, meanwhile, accepted the people’s mandate but pledged to take action against cadres of the BJP who may have worked against the party. “The BJP will introspect the causes which led to its defeat, will formulate a strategy to overcome its shortcomings and do everything possible to ensure victory in the 2022 assembly elections,” Thakur was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. He also congratulated the bypoll winners.
