Himachal Pradesh Election Results 2022 Updates: Congress holds meeting of newly-elected Himachal MLAs

Only three -- outgoing Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and his cabinet colleagues Bikram Singh and Sukh Ram Chaudhary -- managed to retain their seats. BJP stalwart Rajiv Bindal, who was elected to the assembly five times in a row and served as minister, speaker and party's state unit president, lost the poll.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday notified the names of newly elected members of Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha alongwith their party affiliation and presented it to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. Principal Secretary ECI Rahul Sharma and Chief Electoral Officer Maneesh Garg met the governor and presented a certificate bearing names of members elected in the recently held Vidhan Sabha elections.

Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Pratibha Singh informed that they will be holding a meeting to decide upon the name of the Chief Minister of the hill state in the evening. "We will be holding a meeting in the evening and then deciding the name of the CM. There is no groupism and everybody is with us," Pratibha Singh said hours after her statement sparked a row of controversy. State President Pratibha Virbhadra Singh, in a conversation with ANI, was seen hinting at her desire to be chosen as the CM of the state as she said that the party cannot ignore the person (her husband- Virbhadra Singh) in whose name it contested the polls and won.

There is no question of neglecting anyone. Everyone will be taken together to go ahead. Everyone has the right to express their opinion. There is no problem: Chhattisgarh CM and party's Himachal supervisor Bhupesh Baghel, in Shimla

Sukh Ram was Chanakya of Himachal politics and now his son Anil Sharma and grandson Ashray are trying to be that but while Ashray is struggling to come into a ctive politics, Anil has failed to win the trust of the BJP. It’s the Sukh Ram legacy that continues to win from Mandi.

Despite rifts in the party and his poor terms with Jai Ram Thakur, Anil kept the Mandi seat fo r the fifth time — a proof that people won’t forget Sukh Ram so soon. Anil won the seat by 10,006 votes by defeating Congress leader Kaul Singh’s daughter Champa Thakur for second consecutiv e time. Three-time MP and five-time MLA, former Union minister Sukh Ram died in May.

Since 1998, the women voters have decided who governs Himachal Pradesh. This time their high turnout helped the Congress win 40 seats, but only one of them has made it to the House.

They have stayed ahead of men even in attending political rallies and joining the door-todoor campaigns. Of the 37. 2 lakh votes polled in 2017, men accounted for 18. 1 lakh, while the women accounted for 19. 1 lakh or 6. 21% more. That time, the women helped the BJP because it made special promises to them, while this time they favoured the Congress to claim a monthly stipend of Rs 1,500 promised to each of them in the 18-60 age group. The BJP’s free schemes such as bicycles and scooties for schoolgirls, 33% quota for women in the government jobs, Grihini Suvidha and Ujjwala, and Mukhyamantri Shagun failed to lure them.

In 2022, women had the higher turnout in 42 of the 68 constituencies. In seven seats, they had at least 5,000 more votes than men, with the highest difference of 8,189 being in Jogindernagar. The 27. 8 lakh men voters were 72. 4% of their category, while the 27. 3 lakh women were 76. 8%. The parties wooed women for good reason. The Congress promised them a stipend despite the state’s financial crisis, and it helped win 40 seats.

Despite all the wooing of women, only 24 of them were fielded as candidates against 412 seats. Only one woman, Reena Kashyap of the BJP from Pacchad, won. She had also won the 2019 byelection. She beat Dayal Pyari of the Congress by 3,857 votes. Senior women politicians such as Sarveen Chaudhary (BJP) from Shahpur and Asha Kumar (INC) from Dalhousie lost.

The Congress, which wrested power from the BJP in Himachal Pradesh, has convened a meeting of all its newly-elected MLAs here on Friday and the meet is likely to pass a resolution authorising the Congress president to pick the CLP leader.

The Congress on Thursday won 40 seats in the 68-member Assembly in the hill state which maintained its tradition of not voting any incumbent government to power since 1985.

Leader of the opposition Mukesh Agnihotri said that a meeting would be held in Shimla on Friday.

Deciding on the chief ministerial face who can bind the party going forward is the immediate challenge for the Congress.

The Congress secured 43.90 per cent vote share as it wrested Himachal Pradesh from the BJP, winning 40 seats in the 68-member Assembly in the hill state which maintained its tradition of voting incumbent government out of power since 1985.

Despite getting 43 per cent vote share, the BJP could only manage to win 25 seats, with many segments witnessing lower victory margins.

Three Independents also emerged victorious in the assembly polls, results for which were declared on Thursday.

The vote share was up for the Congress as against previous assembly elections.

The BJP and the Congress contested on all 68 constituencies, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded its candidates on 67 seats, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on 53 and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on 11 seats.

The AAP failed to open its account and the CPI-M also did not win any seat while its sitting MLA from Theog also lost.

The AAP received 1.10 per cent votes, the CPI-M 0.66 per cent, the BSP 0.35 per cent, and Independents and others got 10.39 per cent, while 0.59 per cent went to NOTA.

A day after getting majority in the 68-member legislative assembly, 40 Congress lawmakers will meet in the state capital on Friday in the presence of party's state in-charge Rajeev Shukla and special observer and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel to nominate the legislative party leader.

State party president Pratibha Singh, former party chief Sukhwinder Sukhu and Mukesh Agnihotri are considered key frontrunners for the chief minister's post.

The erstwhile royals of Himachal Pradesh who once commanded their own space in politics are losing their charm as only two of them won in the state polls this time while two others lost at the hustings.

Vikramaditya Singh, the son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and the scion of erstwhile royal family of Rampur Bushahr, won by a margin of 13,860 votes from Shimla rural, while Anirudh Singh of the erstwhile royal family of Koti, won from Kasumpti seat.

Virbhadra Singh had dominated the state politics for over four decades and served as the chief minister several times. His wife Pratibha Singh, who hails from the erstwhile royal family of Keonthal, is currently the state Congress chief and is among one of the frontrunners for the chief minister's post.

While Vikramaditya Singh defeated BJP's Ravi Mehta, Anirudh Singh defeated outgoing Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj by a margin of 8,865 votes. Bhardwaj had changed his seat from Shimla Urban to Kasumpti.

Though the Congress wrested power from the BJP in Himachal Pradesh by winning 40 out of the 68 assembly seats, party candidates had a wafer-thin victory margin of less than 2,000 in 15 seats.

The difference in the number of votes received by the candidates of the two parties in Bhoranj, Sujanpur, Darang, Bilaspur, Sri Naina Devi, Rampur, Shillai, and Sri Renukaji was less than 1,000 votes.

In Bhattiyat, Balh, Una, Jaswan Pragpur, Lahaul and Spiti, Sarkaghat, and Nahan the difference was only between 1,000 to 2,000.

Outgoing Chief Minister Jairam Thakur won by 38,183 votes -- the highest victory margin -- from Seraj in Mandi district, while BJP's Pawan Kajal won in Kangra by a margin of 19,834 votes.

The BJP, which won 25 seats in the Himachal Pradesh elections, suffered a setback in the assembly segments falling under Shimla, Hamirpur and Kangra parliamentary constituencies in the hill state.

However, the party put up a good show in Mandi Lok Sabha constituency.

The Congress wrested Himachal Pradesh from the BJP, winning 40 seats in the 68-member Assembly. The results of the November 12 assembly elections were declared on Thursday.

The promise of restoration of the old pension scheme proved to be a shot in the arm for the Congress, while the issues of apple growers marred the BJP's prospects in about 20 seats.

The voters were upset over the rising unemployment and inflation and there was a strong anti-incumbency against the government, political observers said.

State party president Pratibha Singh is considered a key frontrunner for the chief minister's post, closely followed by former party chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and outgoing CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri.

AICC in-charge of Himachal Pradesh Rajeev Shukla had on Thursday said the Congress was happy that it is getting an opportunity to form the government in the state and asserted that the party will do everything to fulfil the 10 guarantees made to the people of the state and would provide better governance to people.

"The newly-elected Congress MLAs would meet in Shimla on Friday post-election results and decide on electing the new legislature party leader," Shukla had told PTI on Thursday.

Sources said the MLAs are likely to pass a one-line resolution authorising Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to decide the CLP leader. This has been the tradition in the Congress party, they said.

The Congress, which wrested power from the BJP in Himachal Pradesh, has convened a meeting of all its newly-elected MLAs here on Friday and the meet is likely to pass a resolution authorising the Congress president to pick the CLP leader.

The Congress on Thursday won 40 seats in the 68-member Assembly in the hill state which maintained its tradition of not voting any incumbent government to power since 1985.

With the Congress emerging victorious in Himachal Pradesh, state party president Pratibha Singh is considered a key frontrunner for the chief minister's post, closely followed by former party chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and outgoing CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri. Deciding on the chief ministerial face who can bind the party going forward is the immediate challenge for the Congress.

Himachal Pradesh continued its decades-long tradition of not voting an incumbent government to power as the Congress on Thursday won 40 seats in the recently concluded polls while the BJP secured victory in 25 seats.

The BJP is leading in the remaining 4 seats.

"Hearty congratulations and best wishes to all the people of Himachal and party workers for the huge victory of the Congress in Himachal assembly elections. This is the victory of all of you," Singh said in a tweet in Hindi.

"I assure you again, every promise made to the public will be fulfilled at the earliest," Gandhi added.

"This victory is of all of you. Thank you Himachal Pradesh," the party said in a tweet in Hindi from its official handle.

The Congress is leading in 1 seat while the BJP is ahead in 7 seats.

Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh's son and sitting Congress MLA from Shimla (Rural) Vikramaditya Singh retained his seat by defeating his nearest rival Ravi Kumar Mehta of the BJP by 13,860 votes. There were six candidates in fray from this seat.

The Congress is leading in 7 other seats while the BJP is ahead in 7 seats

It's victory of people of state. People voted for change & against unemployment & inflation. We'll be united and there won't be any factionalism in our party. We met party chief M Kharge & had a discussion regarding our next step: Rajiv Shukla, Congress in charge of Himachal

I have handed over my resignation to the Governor. We will never stop working for the development of the people. We need to analyse things. There were some issues that changed the direction of the results. I will go to Delhi if they call us, said Thakur.

It is a very emotional moment for me as I can see the same kind of support from people as it was for late Virbhadra Singh. Chandigarh is easily accessible meeting point for MLAs & we are not worried about poaching: Pratibha V Singh, HP Congress president on poll results

High command will decide next CM of Himachal. Priyanka Gandhi's 10-pointer manifesto worked there. Gujarat's results are shocking as situation during the campaigning was different, a surprising victory for BJP, said Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel

The Congress is leading in 13 other seats while the BJP is ahead in 11 seats

As the Assembly poll trends showed the Congress was likely to get a majority in Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday said the party needed to protect its MLAs in the hill state from any possibility of horse-trading. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can "go to any level", he claimed.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.

Congress to hold meeting of all its newly-elected MLAs in Himachal Pradesh in Chandigarh after declaration of results today, meet likely to pass resolution authorising Congress president to elect CLP leader, says AICC in charge of state Rajeev Shukla.