Himachal Pradesh bypolls: Embarrassment for BJP; loses all 4 seats to Congress

In a major embarrassment for the state ruling BJP the Congress on Tuesday won the Mandi Lok Sabha bypoll along with all three Assembly constituencies Arki Fatehpur and JubbalKotkhai in bypollsCongress candidate Pratibha Singh won the Mandi seat a prestige for Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur as it falls in his home district by defeating BJPs greenhorn Brigadier Khushal Thakur retired a decorated officer who played a crucial role in the 1999 Kargil war by a slender margin of 8766 votesThe Congress candidates won Arki JubbalKotkhai and Fatehpur Assembly segments with comfortable margins Congress veteran and sixtime Chief Minister late Virbhadra Singhs legacy was put to test against BJPs Chief Minister Thakurs credibility during the parliamentary bypoll of Mandi one of countrys toughest and sprawling constituenciesPratibha Singh now a thirdtime MP from Mandi is the wife of the late Virbhadra Singh The seat fell vacant with the death of twotime BJP MP Ram Swaroop Sharma who defeated Congress candidate Ashray Sharma the grandson of former Telecommunications Minister Sukh Ram in his electoral debut with a margin of 398 lakh votes in 2019Eyeing sympathy votes Pratibha Singh who was banking largely on her firsttime legislator son Vikramaditya Singh for campaigning sought votes on development carried out by her husband during his three stints as an MP from Mandi and six terms as the Chief MinisterPratibha Singh who lost the Mandi seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha election missed no opportunity to remind the electorates that the victory in Mandi byelection will be a tribute to him Virbhadra SinghHer husband Virbhadra Singh who devoted over 50 years for the common people despite being born in royalty had travelled across the state both as an MP and the Chief MinisterThe veteran leader passed away on July 8 in Shimla at the age of 87 leaving behind a rich political legacyHer husband was elected from Mandi in 1971 1980 and 2009 However Virbhadra Singh lost the Mandi seat in 1977 At the time of his death he was representing the Arki Assembly seatThe Mandi constituency which includes Kullu Mandi and some areas of Chamba and Shimla districts besides the tribaldominated Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti is one of the biggest in the countryIn the assembly seats the key contest was between Congress candidate Rohit Thakur and BJP rebel and Independent Chetan Bragta on the JubbalKotkhai seatBragta is the son of former horticulture minister Narendra Bragta who passed away in June because of postCOVID complications Thakur won the seat by a margin of nearly 6000 votesCongress candidate Sanjay Awasthy won the Arki assembly seat by 3277 votes while in Fatehpur Congress candidate Bhawani Singh Pathania defeated his nearest rival Baldev Thakur of the BJP by 5652 votes Elated over partys victory Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri told IANS that this poll was the semifinal ahead of the 2022 Assembly pollThe BJP has lost faith in the state owing to antipeople policies It is a vote for change We are going to make a comeback in the state in the next Assembly elections he saidAlso Read Mumbai civic polls Ward boundaries changed to favour Shiv Sena says BJPThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever