Himachal CM ensures win in Assembly bypolls, secures ‘absolute majority’ for Congress

Shimla, July 13 (IANS) In a high-stake bypolls for three Assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday not only ensured a win on two of three seats, including his greenhorn politician wife Kamlesh Thakur’s Dehra constituency that saw neck-and-neck contest but also strengthened his government by securing an absolute majority in the Assembly.The main rival BJP won one seat — Hamirpur. The second seat that the Congress won was Nalagarh.With these wins, the Congress got an absolute majority of 40 seats — six over than the halfway mark of 34 in the 68-member House. The BJP has increased its tally to 28.In December 2022, the Congress won 40 seats, while then outgoing BJP was reduced to 25. This has been the second Assembly by-election since 2022. Previously, the bypoll was held for four Assembly seats.‘The BJP had conspired to oust us from the state. People have now answered,” Sukhu told the media on the party’s win from Dehra and Nalagarh, adding, “Now we again got an absolute majority mark that we had secured in (December) 2022.”The Congress won the Dehra seat for the first time with its candidate Kamlesh Thakur defeating BJP candidate Hoshiyar Singh by a margin of 9,399 votes. The latter won the seat as an Independent candidate in 2022 for the second consecutive time.“People of Himachal Pradesh have rejected the ‘Dal-Badal’ (turncoat)