Shimla, May 23: The ruling BJP is all set to win all four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal by a margin even greater than 2014, when too it had made a clean sweep.The election results will be a big setback to Congress leader Sukh Ram, whose grandson is trailing by over 1 lakh votes in Mandi, after switching sides from the BJP back to the Congress.
The Congress was trailing even in its bastions of Rohru, Rampur and Chopal in Shimla district, indicating a strong Modi wave sweeping the hill state.
The results also clearly indicate that intensive campaigning by former CM Virbhadra Singh, the Congress’ star campaigner, failed to impress the voters.The outcome will be a big relief to former chief minister PK Dhumal, whose son, Anurag Thakur, a three-time sitting MP, is all set to register his fourth consecutive win. Dhumal had suffered a major setback when he lost the 2017 Assembly election despite being projected as CM candidate.
The BJP candidates attained an unassailable lead of over 1 lakh votes after the first four rounds in all four seats of Shimla, Mandi, Kangra and Hamirpur. What is even more humiliating for the Congress candidates is that they are trailing in their own Assembly segments. Ram Lal Thakur of the Congress, a sitting MLA from Naina Devi in Bilaspur, was trailing in his own segment over BJP candidate Anurag Thakur.
Even Mandi candidate Ashray Sharma, grandson of Sukh Ram, was trailing in Mandi (Sadar), a seat represented by his father Anil Sharma, though as BJP MLA.
BJP candidate Kishan Kapoor was leading over his nearest Congress rival Pawan Kajal by a margin of over 2.22 lakh. Congress candidate Ashray Sharma from Mandi was trailing by over 1 lakh votes in Mandi. Anurag Thakur, three-time MP and son of former CM PK Dhumal, was leading by 1.19 lakh votes. BJP candidate from Shimla (reserved) Suresh Kashyap had a lead of 1.20 lakh over Congress candidate Dhani Ram Shandil.
