E-Paper
Lok Sabha elections 2019: Anurag Thakur seeks 4th term from party stronghold
Over 1.3 million people were eligible to vote in Hamirpur from where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Anurag Thakur is seeking his fourth in Parliament.
A 71.52% turnout was recorded in Hamirpur, one of the four Lok Sabha constituencies in Himachal Pradesh that went to the polls in the last phase of the general elections on Sunday.
Over 1.3 million people were eligible to vote in Hamirpur from where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Anurag Thakur is seeking his fourth in Parliament.
Thakur, 44, has held the seat since 2008 when his father, Prem Kumar Dhumal, vacated it after he took over as Himachal Pradesh chief minister. Thakur again won the seat in 2009 and 2014.
Hamirpur has been a BJP stronghold since 1989. Dhumal won the Hamirpur seat twice in 1989 and 1991 before he lost to the Congress’s Vikram Singh in 1996.
The BJP’s Suresh Chandel wrested the seat in 1998. He went on to win the next two elections. His third term was cut short after he was caught on camera accepting cash for asking questions in Parliament.
Dhumal, who lost the assembly election in 2017 despite being the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, won the seat for the third time when Chandel’s disqualification necessitated a by-election in 2007. Thakur is up against former national Kabbadi player, Ram Lal Thakur, who has tried his luck thrice unsuccessfully.
The constituency is known for its apple yield.
Here is a look at exit poll numbers:
