Congress to call Himachal Pradesh MLAs to Chandigarh? Rajiv Shukla signals

As the Congress is surging ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party on 32 of the 68 seats with seven seats already under its belt in the Himachal Pradesh assembly election, party leader Rajiv Shukla said he and Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel will go to Chandigarh who is also an observer for Himachal elections. Baghel addressing reporters here today said there were apprehensions of poaching of Congress MLAs.

Baghel and Shukla are set to reach Chandigarh later today while Hooda is already in Chandigarh.

"We are taking our leaders to Chandigarh and closing our doors and windows as the BJP will try to poach, as they have done many times in the past," said Tajinder Singh Bittu, Congress in-charge for Himachal.

“Bhupinder Singh Hooda is already in Chandigarh. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and I will be going to Chandigarh and will be deciding by evening whether to call MLAs to Shimla or Chandigarh,” news agency ANI quoted Shukla as saying.

Till the last updates by the Election Commission of India, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was leading on 18, while winning eight seats.

Himachal Pradesh has not voted any incumbent government to power since 1985.

In Poanta Sahib, minister Sukh Ram Chaudhary defeated nearest Congress rival Kirnesh Jing by 8,596 votes.

In Mandi district's Sundernagar, sitting MLA and BJP leader Rakesh Jamwal defeated his nearest Congress rival by 8,125 votes.

The BJP also won Nurpur seat with Randhir Singh defeating Congress's Ajay Mahajan by 18,752 votes.

Former Union minister late Sukh Ram's son Anil Sharma retained his Mandi Sadar seat defeating his rival from the Congress. Sharma defeated Congress's Champa Thakur by 10,006 votes, according to the Election Commission.

From Shimla Urban, Congress' Harish Janartha defeated his nearest BJP rival Sanjay Sood by 3,037 votes.

Leading BJP candidates include chief minister Jairam Thakur from Seraj, minister Bikram Singh in Jaswant Paragpur and Speaker Vipin Singh Parmar in Sullah.

Congress leader Mukesh Agnihotri, who is the Leader of Opposition in the assembly, is leading from Haroli, while former state Congress chief Kuldeep Rathore (Theog), former minister Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala), and Dhani Ram Shandil (Solan) are ahead of their rivals.

The other leading candidates include Congress's Jagat Singh Negi from Kinnaur, late chief minister Virbhadra Singh's son Vikramaditya Singh from Shimla Rural and Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu from Nadaun.

Hoshiyar Singh from Dehra and K L Thakur from Nalagarh are among the Independents who are leading.

According to the trends, some of the prominent candidates who are trailing include ministers Rakesh Pathania, Rajinder Garg from Ghumarwin, Rajiv Saizal from Kasauli, Suresh Bhardwaj from Kasumpti, Virender Kanwar from Kutlehar and Sarveen Chaudhary from Shahpur.

Senior Congress leader and sitting MLA Asha Kumari was trailing from Dalhousie while Congress' Kaul Singh was trailing from Darang.

The counting of votes for the 68-member assembly began at 8 am.

The BJP's slogan this time was "Raj nahin, riwaaj badlega", which translates to, "the convention will change, not the government".

For the Congress, a victory in Himachal Pradesh is much needed for a revival as it has been battered by a spate of electoral losses in the last few years.

(With inputs from PTI)