Himachal bypolls: Congress wins Mandi Lok Sabha, all three assembly seats
Premium- The BJP had won from Mandi in 2019 and Jubbal-Kotkhai in 2017, while the Congress won from Arki and Fatehpur
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Himachal Pradesh bypolls reults: The Congress has won Mandi Lok Sabha and all three assembly seats — Fatehpur, Arki, Jubbal-Kotkhai — in by-election in Himachal Pradesh.
Former chief minister Virbhadra Singh's wife Pratibha Singh has snatched the Mandi seat from the BJP, which had won it in 2019. She defeated BJP's Khushal Thakur, a Kargil war hero, by a margin of 7,490 votes.
In Mandi, Pratibha Singh got 3,69,565 votes against 3,62,075 secured by the BJP candidate. Mandi is the home district of sitting chief minister Jai Ram Thakur.
The Congress retained Fatehpur and Arki Assembly seats while it wrested Jubbal-Kotkhai seat from the BJP. In Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly seat, Rohit Thakur emerged victorious while Bhawani Singh Pathania from Fatehpur and Sanjay from Arki.
Pathania defeated BJP's Baldev Thakur by 5789 votes while Sanjay won against Rattan Singh Pal by 3219 votes.
After the results, state Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on moral grounds. He said the Congress has won the "semifinal" and will also emerge victorious in the Assembly elections in December next year.
CM Jai Ram Thakur, on the other hand, said the BJP will introspect the causes which led to the party’s defeat in the bypolls. He alleged that some BJP workers operated against the party candidates.
"Action will be taken against them," he said.
"The party will formulate a strategy to overcome its shortcomings and do everything possible to ensure victory in the 2022 Assembly elections," Thakur said.
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