Himachal Election Results 2022: The Congress party is all set to once again 'Raj' in Himachal Pradesh as BJP failed to change 'Riwaaj' in the state which has never elected an incumbent back to power since 1985. The Congress party won 40 out of 68 seats while BJP was able to secure 25 while 3 seats were bagged by independents. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and party leader Rahul Gandhi who is on Bharat Jodo Yatra, congratulated the party workers, and voters and said that they will work to fulfill promises made by them. Though Congress is once ready to form the government, it was an interesting contest to witness and a challenging one for both parties. FULL COVERAGE
As election trends started to appear earlier in the day, during the initial 3 hours, both BJP and Congress were leading in the neck-and-neck contest until the grand-old party started to make further progress.
Incumbent BJP CM Jairam Thakur won the election from the Seraj constituency for the 6th time and by a margin of over 22,000 votes, but 5 of his ministers lost the election.
The cliffhanger situation in Himachal continued for a good amount of time, hinting that the state might proceed towards a deadlock where independents who were leading in 3-4 seats would have been the kingmaker, but Congress improved its tally and crossed halfway mark.
Another outcome of this election was that the Aam Aadmi Party which had been claiming good performance here failed to open its account, though it secured 1.10 per cent vote share. Also, the difference between the votershare of Congress and BJP also stood around 1 per cent.
The BJP fought elections in the backdrop of power-packed campaign led by PM Modi, CM Jairam Thakur, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, and a battery of local and national leaders but failed to break the tradition.
Congress may move MLAs to Chandigarh to avoid poaching?
As Congress is all set to form the next government, it's fearing that its winning MLAs may be poached, therefore the party may move them to Chandigarh by tonight or tomorrow.
Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel claimed, "The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can "go to any level".
Baghel, who was appointed as senior observer by the Congress for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls, denied speculation that the newly elected party MLAs from Himachal Pradesh will be shifted to Chhattisgarh.
"The counting is still underway and we should wait for the final results. However, we were confident that we will form government in Himachal Pradesh and the early trends show we are heading towards victory there," Baghel said.
5 BJP ministers lose elections
Five BJP ministers in Himachal Pradesh, out of total 11 ministers, lost the elections.
Health Minister Dr. Rajeev Saizal, who contested from Kasauli seat in Solan district, has been defeated by Vinod Sultanpuri of Congress.
Education Minister Govind Singh Thakur also lost the election. Govind Singh Thakur was defeated by Bhubaneswar Gaur of Congress in Manali seat.
Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj lost the election to Anirudh Singh of Congress from Kasumpti seat in Shimla district.
Suresh Bhardwaj had won the last four elections from Shimla Urban seat. The BJP high command this time changed Bhardwaj's seat and gave him ticket from Kasumpti seat.
Sarveen Chowdhary, who was a minister in the Jairam government, lost the election to Kewal Singh Pathania of the Congress from Shahpur seat in Kangra district.
Minister Dr. Ramlal Markanda has lost the election from Lahaul-Spiti seat to Congress's Ravi Thakur.
ALSO READ | Himachal Election Results 2022: Complete winners list
