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HP goes with tradition, Congress returns to power

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Vincent
Published date08 December 2022
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could bag 25 seats in the hill state with Independents emerging victorious on three seats. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur tendered his resignation to the Governor soon after the results were declared

The vote share of Congress at 43.90 per cent was just 0.90 per cent more than that of the saffron party (43 per cent), while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was decimated with 1.10 per cent vote share. In 2017, the BJP had won 44 seats while the Congress had won 21 seats.

In 2022, the Congress kept former party president Rahul Gandhi away from campaigning while roped in his sister and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi. In a strategic move, the grand old party tried to keep Prime Minister Narendra Modi factor in check by focussing more on local issues such as Old Pension Scheme (OPS), Rs 1,500 per month for all women of age group 18-60, inflation, and unemployment.

Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah held rallies across the state. The PM even described HP as his second home and called up a rebel candidate on phone to step down but all went in vain.

As many as eight BJP ministers out of 11 who were in the fray bite the dust including Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Sarveen Choudhary (Shahpur), Health and Family Welfare Minister Rajiv Saizal (Kasauli), Education Minister Govind Singh (Manali), Food and Civil Supplies Minister Rajinder Garg (Ghumarwin), Forest Minister Rakesh Pathania (Fatehpur), Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj (Kasumpti), Technical Education Minister Ram Lal Markanda (Lahaul and Spiti), and Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Virender Kanwar (Kutlehar).

Jal Shakti Minister Mahender Singh vacated Dharampur seat for his son Rajat Thakur, who also lost. Only outgoing Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, Industries Minister Bikram Singh and Power Minister Sukh Ram Chaudhary could retain their seats. Thakur won from Seraj seat by a record margin of 38,183 votes.

Leader of Opposition and CM contender from the Congress Mukesh Agnihotri retained Haroli seat in Una district for 5th time consecutively. He...

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