Himachal Pradesh bypolls: Setback to BJP, Congress wins all three assembly seats

Shimla: In a major setback to the BJP in Himachal Pradesh, the opposition Congress won all three assembly seats of Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai and is leading in Mandi Lok Sabha seat where bypolls were held on October 30.

The Congress retained Fatehpur and Arki Assembly seats while it wrested Jubbal-Kotkhai seat from the BJP, according to poll results announced by the Election Commission on Tuesday.

Congress is also ahead in Mandi, where BJP's Ram Swaroop Sharma had won by a whopping 4,05,000 votes in the last Lok Sabha election in 2019.

Congress candidates Bhawani Singh Pathania, Sanjay and Rohit Thakur have won from Fatehpur, Arki and Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly constituencies, respectively.

In Mandi parliamentary seat, late chief minister Virbhadra Singh's wife Pratibha Singh of the Congress is leading from her nearest rival -Kargil war hero Brigadier Khushal Thakur of the BJP.

State Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on moral grounds after the BJP's defeat.

He told reporters that the Congress has won the "semifinal" and will also emerge victorious in the Assembly election scheduled in December next year.