| |
|---|
Debjit Mukherjee: The Congress made a comeback in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday, by winning 40 seats in the high-stakes electoral contest for the 68-member Legislative Assembly, edging out the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), which had appeared confident of returning to power.
Himachal Pradesh has seen a bipolar electoral system for more than three decades, with the Congress and the BJP alternately forming the government. Yet again, the voters in the hill State have followed the tradition of throwing out the incumbent government after five years of governance.
The ruling BJP, which was aiming to once again form the government with its high-pitched “mission repeat” campaign, failed to go beyond the 25-seat mark in the State assembly. While Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur won by a record margin of over 37,000 votes — the highest-ever by any CM in the State — eight of his 10 ministers lost the election.
The Congress party won 40 assembly constituencies while the BJP could register a win in only 25 seats. Three Independent candidates have also won, according to the results and trends declared by the Election Commission of India on Thursday. In the Himachal Pradesh legislature, 35 seats marks the majority needed by any party or alliance to stake a claim to form the government in the State.
