Kangana Ranaut leading from Mandi against Vikramaditya Singh by 71,663 votes
Mandi election 2024 result live: Kangana Ranaut is leading from Mandi in the early rounds of counting.
Mandi election 2024 result live: BJP's Kangana Ranaut is leading from Mandi against Congress's Vikramaditya Singh by a margin of 71,663 votes as of 2:44 pm on Tuesday, according to the Election Commission of India.
With the highest voter turnout in Himachal Pradesh and a nail-biting fight between Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut and minister Vikramaditya Singh, Mandi outcomes are being the most closely watched at this hour. The constituency went to the polls in the last phase of the election on June 1 and recorded 72% voter turnout.
Queen Kangana versus King Vikramaditya Singh
Mandi was a natural choice for Kangana's political debut as the actor has her roots in Sarkaghat. Sitting MP, Congress's Pratibha Singh bowed out of the contest in favour of her son Vikramaditya making it a battle between Bollywood's Queen versus the King of Bushahr.
Mandi witnessed a 73.6% voter turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, but the figure dropped to 58% in the 2021 bypolls. On June 1, Mandi’s Nachan assembly segment registered the highest turnout of 77.47%. Sundernagar followed with 75.86% turnout. Kangana's home segment Sarkaghat recorded a low turnout of 67.62%. Vikramaditya's home segment Rampur's turnout was 74.16%.
What exit polls predicted about Mandi's possible outcome?
According to India Today-Axis My India exit poll, the BJP is predicted to have a clean sweep in all four seats of Himachal Pradesh, including Mandi.
ETG's exit poll predicted three seats for the NDA and one seat for the Congress in Himachal Pradesh.
In 2019, the BJP dominated all the four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh comprising Kangra, Mandi, Hamirppur and Shimla. In 2021 Lok Sabha bypoll in Mandi, Pratibha Singh, wife of former chief minister late Virbhadra Singh, wrested Mandi from BJP's Brigadier Khushal Thakur.
How Mandi voted in past
Mandi saw a historical dominance of the Congress as Virbhadra Singh and Pratibha Singh held their sway in the seat from 2004 to 2014. BJP's Ram Swaroop Sharma won the seat consecutively in 2014 and 2019. His death in 2021 necessitated the bypoll which earned Congress the seat.
