SHIMLA: Riding an anti-incumbency wave, the BJP on Friday swept back to power in Himachal Pradesh winning an absolute majority ousting Congress in the Assembly elections capping a year of triumphs in Gujarat, Punjab and Uttarakhand.
Conforming to the cycle of the ruling party being ejected from power in the hill state, the saffron party bagged 41 seats, five short of two-thirds majority in the 68-member Assembly. In the outgoing House, BJP had only 19 MLAs. Congress, which yielded ground to an impressive performance by BJP in all parts of the state, secured only 23 seats, down by 18. The bad tidings came for the party on its 123rd Foundation Day.
The BSP, which played the spoiler for Congress by cutting into its traditional vote bank of Dalits, made its debut in the state winning one seat while Independents took away the remaining three.
P K Dhumal (63), a professor of English literature, who was named as BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate, led the saffron surge winning from Bamsan in Hamirpur district beating his schoolmate and Congress candidate retired colonel B C Lagwal by 26,000 votes. Dhumal, who also represents Hamirpur in Lok Sabha, is likely to be chosen as the leader of the BJP's Legislature Party tomorrow and may be sworn in for a second term as Cheif Minister on Sunday.
The Congress, which went to the polls under the leadership of grand old man of Himachal politics and five-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, suffered on BJP's campaign plank of corruption, price rise and unemployment. Three ministers bit the dust in the polls, while Singh survived the saffron sweep retaining his Rohru seat in Shimla district winning by a margin of 14,000 votes. The defeated ministers were Raj Kishan Gaur(Agriculture), Ramlal Thakur(Forest) and Kuldeep Kumar(Industries).
| Boy howdy, an election without riots, explosions and assassinations. Pakistain should take notice. |
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