Shimla:

The election results in Himachal Pradesh have brought forth a mixed outcome, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dominating the parliamentary polls while the Congress clinched the majority in the state Assembly by-elections.

The BJP emerged victorious in all four parliamentary constituencies, with significant margins in several races. In Shimla, BJP candidate Suresh Kashyap secured a resounding victory over Congress contender Vinod Sultanpuri by a margin exceeding 90,000 votes.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur continued his winning streak in the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency, triumphing over Congress candidate Satpal Raijada by over 172,000 votes.

In a surprising upset for the Congress, BJP’s Rajiv Bhardwaj secured victory in the Kangra parliamentary constituency, defeating former Union Minister Anand Sharma by an impressive margin of 251,895 votes.

Notably, in the Mandi parliamentary constituency, BJP candidate and film actress Kangana Ranaut clinched victory over PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh, son of former six-time HP CM Virbhadra Singh, by a margin of 74,755 votes.

However, in the by-elections for the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, the Congress retained four out of the six Assembly seats up for grabs. Congress candidates emerged victorious in Sujanpur, Gagret, Kutlehar, and Lahaul-Spiti constituencies, securing their majority in the Assembly.

In Sujanpur, Congress candidate Ranjit Singh Rana defeated BJP’s Rajender Rana by 2,440 votes. Similarly, in Gagret, Rakesh Kalia of Congress secured victory over Chaitanya Sharma of BJP by a margin of 8,487 votes.

Meanwhile, BJP candidate Sudhir Sharma emerged victorious in Dharamshala Assembly constituency, defeating Congress candidate Devinder Jaggi by 6,526 votes. In Badsar Assembly constituency, BJP’s Inder Dutt Lakhanpal secured victory over Congress candidate Subhash Chand by 2,125 votes.