The Akhnoor assembly segment, which is represented by Sharma's younger brother, Sham Lal Sharma, the irrigation and public health engineering minister, also saw more votes polled for the BJP candidate.
In the Udhampur constituency, where the Congress had fielded its stalwart, former state chief minister and then union health minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, an otherwise lesser known Jitender Singh of the BJP won by over 60,000 votes.
Assembly seats like the Gandhi Nagar, represented by the Congress leader and state minister Raman Bhalla, and Vijaypur, represented by the NC's Surjeet Singh Salathia, also saw more votes polled for the BJP.
