'Anger at independents joining BJP aided Cong win Dehra, Nalagarh bypolls'

Resigning and switching to the BJP has proved costly for two Independent legislators of Himachal Pradesh who lost to Congress candidates from their seats on Saturday in the assembly bypolls.

Congress candidate Kamlesh Thakur, the wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, defeated BJP's Hoshiyar Singh for the Dehra seat by a margin of 9,399 votes.

Congress' Hardeep Singh Bawa defeated his nearest rival and BJP candidate K L Thakur in the bypoll to the Nalagarh assembly seat by 8,990 votes. Bawa is a five-time Indian National Trade Union Congress president.

BJP's Ashish Sharma, however, managed to win the assembly bypolls from Hamirpur seat as he secured 1,571 votes more than nearest rival and Congress candidate Pushpender Verma.

The bypoll results ensured that for the first time in the electoral history of the state, a husband and wife -- CM Sukhvinder Sukhu and Kamlesh Thakur -- would be members of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly.

In another first, there will not be a single Independent MLA in the state assembly.

In the 2022 assembly elections, three Independents namely Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh) were elected but they resigned after voting for BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha election on February 27. Six Congress rebels had also cross-voted for the BJP nominee in the election and later joined the saffron party.

The Independent MLAs resigned on March 22 and joined the BJP the next day. The resignation of three Independents was accepted by the Speaker, Kuldeep Singh Pathania on June 3.

The by-elections held in the three seats on July 10 recorded about 71 per cent polling.