Congress takes lead in Himachal Pradesh; wins 3 seats, leading in 40 Assembly constituencies

Shimla, Dec 08:-- Counting of votes is on for 68 seats in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly. According to the election trends, a tough fight is going on between the ruling BJP and the Congress. No party has been able to touch the majority mark in the trends so far. However, the opposition Congress has taken an edge over the BJP. Independents are also leading in some seats.

According to the data available on the Election Commission's website till 2 pm for all the 68 seats, the Congress is ahead in 40 and the BJP in 25. Independent candidates are leading in two seats. The magic number of majority in the state assembly is 35.

According to the Election Commission, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur is leading from Seraj seat by 22,000 votes. Six BJP ministers Virendra Kanwar, Rakesh Pathania, Rajendra Garg, Rajeev Saizal, Suresh Bhardwaj and Sarveen Chowdhary are trailing behind their nearest rivals.

Independent candidates are leading over their nearest rivals in Hamirpur, Nalagarh and Dehra seats. Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri is ahead by 2 thousand votes from Haroli seat. State Congress Campaign Committee President Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu is leading by 3,600 votes from Nadaun seat. Similarly, senior Congress leader Ramlal Thakur is leading by 900 votes from Shri Naina Devi seat. Former state Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur is trailing by 2,000 votes from Drang seat. Senior Congress leader Asha Kumari is also trailing by 4000 votes from Dalhousie seat.

A record 75.6 per cent polling was held in the state on November 12, in the assembly elections.