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Modi magic leads BJP to historic win in HP, Cong in shock

Shimla: Strong Modi-wave sweeping the country worked wonders for the BJP in Himachal Pradesh – a BJP-ruled state posting a historic win for the party to retain all four seats, which it had won in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The poll results declared at the end of the counting of votes on Thursday, left the Congress completely jolted by the margin of victory exceeding 4.75 lakhs in Kangra and three lakhs in three other Parliamentary constituencies of Hamirpur, Mandi and Shimla (Reserve).

Krishan Kapoor, a sitting cabinet minister, who was given ticket in place of BJP veteran Shanta Kumar, defeated Congress's Pawan Kajal, a BJP leader, and MLA by 4.77 lakh voters. The worst blow to the Congress was the first that the BJP recorded an unbeatable lead in all 68 assembly constituencies, including those won by the Congress MLAs like former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in 2017 assembly polls. He was down by 29,454 votes.

Haroli, a constituency of Mukesh Agnihotri, Leader of Opposition (LoP) under Hamirpur seat, also had a high margin of 14,921 votes in favour of the BJP.

A most significant victory in the polls was Hamirpur, where three-time MP Anurag Thakur, created a new record by winning the seat by over 3.88 lakh votes.

Thakur, a former BCCI chairman, who is also BJP's Chief whip, gave the credit of his victory margin to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has beaten the anti-incumbency, to bring the party back to power. His victory has more meaning from the fact that Anurag Thakur's father Prem Kumar Dhumal, who was BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate, had missed his Chief Ministerial chance in 2017 assembly polls, as he lost his seat by a slender margin. "I thank people of Himachal Pradesh, particularly Hamirpur—who reposed their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Anurag Thakur's tireless work," said Dhumal.

In Shimla (Reserve) Suresh Kashyap, a sitting two-time BJP MLA, won the seat by a margin of 3.27 lakh votes defeating Congress' Col (Rtd) Dhani Ram Shandil.

Mandi – Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur's home district constituency, which had become a hot cake for the BJP 's Ram Swaroop Sharma, sitting MP, also registered an impressive victory by 4.05 lakh votes over 32-year old Ashray Sharma, grandson of former telecom minister Sukh Ram.

"Mandi's victory has many strong messages. One of these was exploding myth created by Sukh Ram that BJP's victory in the 2017 assembly polls was his contribution. Today, the BJP has maintained a very high margin of votes in Mandi (Sadar) constituency, which was a son by Anil Sharma, Sukh Ram's son, who was a minister with us," said the Chief Minister.

He gave credit of BJP's victory in Himachal Pradesh to Modi's policies and works he had done during the past five years.

Former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, in his reaction, said Modi's strong leadership worked to the party's favour. "His magic has paid rich dividends to the BJP indeed," he added.

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