The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has suffered a major setback in the recently concluded by-elections in many states across the country. BJP has also got a crushing defeat in Himachal Pradesh, where it has a government. Congress has won all the three assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh. At the same time, Congress candidate Pratibha Singh has also won the Mandi Lok Sabha seat of Himachal Pradesh.
In Mandi parliamentary seat, Congress candidate and former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s wife Pratibha Singh defeated BJP’s retired Brigadier Khushal Singh by a margin of 8766 votes. Similarly, Sanjay Awasthi of Congress won Arki assembly seat, Rohit Thakur of Jubbal-Kotkhai seat and Bhawani Singh Pathania of Congress won Fatehpur seat.
Voting was held on October 30 during the by-elections to these four seats and the counting of votes took place on Monday. Before the by-election, the Mandi Lok Sabha seat and the Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly seat were with the BJP. At the same time, the Arki and Fatehpur assembly seats were with the Congress.
Along with the Mandi Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh, the by-elections to three assembly seats are also being seen as the semi-finals of the assembly elections to be held in the state next year.