Updated December 8th, 2022 at 07:36 IST

Cong deploys top leaders in Himachal to duck poaching; Horse-trading worries in BJP too?

In effort to protect its party candidates from poaching in Himachal Pradesh, Congress has deployed Bhupinder Hooda, Bhupesh Baghel and Rajiv Shukla in Shimla.

Reported by: Mahima Joshi
Image: PTI | Image:self
Advertisement

As political mercury is rising in Himachal Pradesh ahead of the announcement of election results, Congress on Thursday, in an effort to safeguard its MLAs from 'poaching' has deployed three of its big leaders in the state. According to the sources, in an attempt to shield its flock from the ruling BJP, the grand old party has positioned ex-Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and senior Congress leader Rajiv Shukla in Shimla. 

Meanwhile, in a bid to thwart Congress' bid and also protect its own party candidates, senior BJP leader Vinod Tawde also reached Shimla on Thursday morning to monitor the ongoing situation in the hill state, where BJP is super confident to regain its power. 

Exit polls predict BJP's win in Himachal 

Predicting BJP's win in the tri-cornered Himachal elections, the P-MARQ Exit Poll of Republic stated that the saffron party is likely to register a victory by winning 34 to 39 Assembly seats. The majority mark in the Himachal Assembly is 35 seats. Notably, the exit polls also projected that the Congress will bag 28 to 33 seats in the Assembly polls, while Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party will be restricted to just 1 seat. Notably, the error margin for the P-MARQ Exit Poll is +/-3 per cent.

Apart from this, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur is predicted to win from the Seraj Assembly constituency. The exit poll further projected BJP to get 44.8 per cent of the vote share, while Congress will have a vote share of 42.9 per cent. AAP's vote share will stand at 2.8 per cent.

Earlier in 2017, the BJP comfortably managed to reach the majority mark by winning 44 seats in the 68-member Assembly, whereas Congress could win only 21 seats. Apart from these major parties in the state, independent candidates won two seats and CPI(M) won one seat. 

Advertisement

Published December 8th, 2022 at 07:36 IST