In a major jolt to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Himachal, the Congress on Tuesday recorded victory on the Mandi Lok Sabha seat along with all three assembly constituencies - Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai, where bypolls were held on October 30.
The Congress not only retained the Fatehpur and Arki assembly seats but also managed to wrest Mandi Lok Sabha seat and Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly seat from the BJP in the bypolls, which were seen as a “semifinal” ahead of the Himachal Assembly elections due to be held next year.
The Mandi parliamentary seat, which was earlier held by the BJP, was won by former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s wife Pratibha Singh in a high-stakes poll battle. She defeated BJP's greenhorn Brigadier Khushal Thakur (retired), a decorated officer who played a crucial role in the 1999 Kargil war, by a margin of 7490 votes.
Congress candidates Bhawani Singh Pathania, Sanjay and Rohit Thakur won from Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly constituencies, respectively.
The Mandi seat, a prestigious one for Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur as it falls in his home district, had fallen vacant after the death of two-time BJP MP Ram Swaroop Sharma, who had emerged victorious by a whopping 4,05,000 votes in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Eyeing sympathy votes, Pratibha Singh had sought votes on development carried out by her husband during his stints as an MP from Mandi and six terms as the Chief Minister. Former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had died of post-Covid complications on July 8 this year and it was for the first time that any member of Virbhadra Singh's family was contesting an election after his demise.
In Fatehpur assembly seat, Congress candidate Bhawani Singh Pathania won with a margin of 5789 votes from BJP’s Baldev Thakur. In Arki assembly constituency, Congress’ Sanjay emerged victorious with a margin of 3219 votes over his nearest rival BJP’s Rattan Singh Pal and in Jubbal-Kotkhai, Rohit Thakur of the Congress won by 6293 votes, defeating independent candidate Chetan Singh Bragta. BJP candidate Neelam Seraik failed to save her deposit and got only 2644 votes in Jubbal- Kotkhai assembly constituency.
Political experts say that the sympathy factor was clearly at play in the Mandi Lok Sabha seat and the dramatic shift of the voters to Congress in the bypolls also reflects the waning popularity of ruling BJP in the hill state.
Accepting the defeat, the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that the party will introspect the causes which led to its defeat and will formulate a strategy to overcome its shortcomings and do everything possible to ensure victory in the 2022 assembly elections.