Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his son Vikramaditya Singh won in their constituencies, even as their Congress party lost power in the Assembly elections on Monday.
Virbhadra Singh was the Congress’ chief ministerial candidate again and was contesting what he called his last elections. The six-time chief minister won the Arki seat by 6,051 votes, leaving the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rattan Singh Pal in second place. His BJP rival for the chief minister’s post, Prem Kumar Dhumal lost the Sujanpur constituency to the Congress’ Rajinder Rana.
Vikramaditya Singh’s victory came on his debut run for a seat in the state Assembly. He won from the Shimla (Rural) constituency by 4,910 votes. His father had left his own Shimla (Rural) seat for him to contest from Arki, considered a BJP stronghold.
Corruption was one of the topics that dominated the BJP’s election campaign in the state. This hold significance as Virbhadra Singh is accused of amassing assets worth Rs 10 crore, which were disproportionate to his income between 2009 and 2011, when he was a Union minister. The Central Bureau of Investigation had also charged him with forgery and corruption.
The Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections were held in a single phase on November 9, with a record voter turnout of 74.61%. The state has swung back and forth between the BJP and Congress for more than three decades now, with the incumbent government being voted out each time.
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