HP bypolls: Congress leading in all three assembly by-polls in

Shimla: Congress' candidates, including Himachal Pradesh Chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife, are in the lead in all three assembly constituencies in the state where bypolls were held earlier this week, officials said on Saturday.

The counting of votes for the by-elections in Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh, held on Wednesday, began at 8 am.

Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur was leading by 636 votes against her nearest rival and BJP candidate Hoshiyar Singh after the fifth round of counting, the officials said.

In the Hamirpur assembly seat, Congress' Pushpinder Verma was ahead by 1,704 votes against BJP candidate Ashish Sharma after the second round of counting, they said.

Congress candidate Hardeep Singh Baba was leading by 646 votes in the first round against BJP candidate K L Thakur in the Nalagarh assembly seat, the officials.

Thirteen candidates were in the fray from the three seats.

The Nalagarh assembly constituency had recorded the highest polling at 79.04 per cent, followed by Hamirpur (67.72 per cent) and Dehra (65.42 per cent).

The overall voting percentage of the three bypolls was 71 per cent, according to the data of the state election department.

The seats fell vacant after the three Independent legislators Singh (Dehra), Sharma (Hamirpur) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh), who had voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls held on February 27, resigned from the state assembly on March 22 and joined the party the next day.

Their resignations, however, were accepted by the assembly speaker on June 3, and the seats were declared vacant, necessitating the by-elections.

The BJP fielded all the three former MLAs from their respective seats.

The Congress fielded Thakur from Dehra, repeated its candidate Verma from Hamirpur and gave ticket to five-time Indian National Trade Union Congress president, Himachal Pradesh unit, Hardeep Singh, from Nalagarh.

Though the bypolls will not make much difference in the 68-member House as the Congress has a majority with 38 MLAs. The BJP has 27 members.