Shimla: The Congress returned to power in Himachal Pradesh after five years, defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday. Congress leader and former chief minister Virbhadra Singh seems to be eyeing the Chief Minister's post. "I have a big support base, not only among the people but also among the elected MLAs. Now as to what their further role is for me, is to be decided by the Congress high command and Sonia Gandhiji," he said while speaking to IBN18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai. "There must be strong state leadership which can assist the centre leadership in elections," he added.
The Congress put up a spirited campaign under former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to emerge victorious by a comfortable margin. Being pitched as a strong CM contender, Singh led his party while winning Shimla(Rural) constituency defeating his BJP rival Ishwar Rohal by 19,033 votes.
Even though the BJP tried to corner the Congress by trying to raise the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders brought by the Central Government, which political experts had said could have harmed the Congress's vote share, Singh defied the pollsters by leading his party from the front and bring cheers in party.
Singh had resigned from the Union Cabinet after a special court framed charges against him in a graft a case but the Congress high command appointed him state party president to lead the party in the assembly polls. He was the Chief Minister between 1983 and 85; 1985 and 1990; 1993
08:31 AM, Dec 21, 2012
Shimla: The Congress returned to power in Himachal Pradesh after five years, defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party by a handsome margin on Thursday. The Congress put up a spirited campaign under former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to emerge victorious by a comfortable margin. Being pitched as a strong CM contender, Singh led his party while winning Shimla(Rural) constituency defeating his BJP rival Ishwar Rohal by 19,033 votes. Winners: Chief Minister...
09:04 PM, Dec 20, 2012
Shimla: The Congress returned to power in Himachal Pradesh after five years, defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party by a handsome margin on Thursday. The Congress put up a spirited campaign under former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to emerge victorious by a comfortable margin. Being pitched as a strong CM contender, Singh led his party while winning Shimla(Rural) constituency defeating his BJP rival Ishwar Rohal by 19,033 votes. Even though the...
02:57 PM, Dec 20, 2012
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday conceded defeat in Himachal Pradesh with senior leader Shanta Kumar saying that the party accepted the poll verdict. "We accept the verdict. All people in the BJP had fought elections together. The people did not vote for us. We accept it," Shanta Kumar, a former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister told reporters. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal appeared prepared...
12:56 PM, Dec 20, 2012
Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister PK Dhumal on Thursday won from the Hamirpur seat defeating his nearest Congress rival Narinder Thakur by a margin of over 9,500 votes. As trends showed reverses for BJP in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Thursday appeared prepared even for a defeat. "Whatever people decide is good. It would be good if they support us, and good even if they don't. I...
12:14 PM, Dec 20, 2012
New Delhi: As trends showed reverses for BJP in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Thursday appeared prepared even for a defeat. "Whatever people decide is good. It would be good if they support us, and good even if they don't. I will welcome the decision of people," he said when asked to react on the declining trends of his party's seat in the state. Earlier when the...
10:22 AM, Dec 20, 2012
Ahmedabad/Shimla: Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has crossed the half-way mark in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly and is all set to form the next government in the state even as the Congress has fought back after trailing for a long time in Himachal Pradesh to take the lead. Modi is sitting pretty as his party is leading in all the regions of the state. The Congress is far behind...
09:23 AM, Dec 20, 2012
Shimla: 2:25 pm: The Congress has won the Himachal Pradesh elections and will now form the government in the state. The Congress has won 36 seats. 2:06 pm: The Congress moved closer to winning the Himachal Pradesh elections, winning 34 seats and was leading in 2 seats. The BJP won 22 seats and was leading in 4 while the others won 5 seats and were leading in 1. 1:59 pm:...
08:07 AM, Dec 20, 2012
New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi will decide who will be Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister if the party gains majority in the hill state, a senior party leader said on Wednesday. AICC General Secretary Birender Singh said this on the eve of the poll results in Himachal Pradesh when asked who will be made the Chief Minister by the party if it wins. His remarks came close on the heels...
07:29 AM, Dec 20, 2012
Shimla: The fate of 459 candidates vying for the 68 Assembly segments of Himachal Pradesh, sealed in EVMs for past 46 days, would be decided on Thursday with the counting of votes starting simultaneously for all the seats. Over 4,500 security personnel have been deployed at 39 places where 68 centres have been set up for counting and all the results are expected by afternoon. As many as 33.49 lakh...
12:24 AM, Dec 20, 2012
Shimla: The long gap of 46 days, between November 4 polling for Himachal Assembly and date of counting on December 20, has caused an additional expenditure of Rs 4 crore on security of Electronic Voting Machines, state Chief Electoral Officer Narinder Chauhan said on Tuesday. The total expenditure on polls was likely to be around Rs 10 crore, Chauhan said. "While 42,000 security personnel were deployed to ensure free and...
02:40 AM, Dec 19, 2012
Shimla: Battlelines have been drawn for Sunday’s poll for the 68-member Himachal Assembly where political heavyweights Prem Kumar Dhumal and Virbhadra Singh are jostling for attention of voters for whom the issue of price rise and corruption seems to have surpassed the anti-incumbency factor. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress are contesting all 68 seats while the Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded 66 candidates followed by the Himachal Lokhit...
02:57 PM, Nov 03, 2012
Hamirpur: Elections in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh will be held on Sunday, November 4. This time nearly 50 per cent of voters are below the age of 40. CNN-IBN found out that lack of jobs is a primary concern among the youth. Bharti, a student, studies at the prestigious Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla. She feels students from Himachal find it hard to compete for better jobs outside...
09:21 AM, Nov 02, 2012
Shimla: Himachal Pradesh will go for polls on Sunday, November 4. One of the key election issues this time has been land. The state is seeing a construction boom and land prices are soaring. Vinod Sultanpuri, contesting for the Congress from Kasauli, has alleged that illegal benami land deals are rampant. "I live in Sultanpur. In the panchayats there, 18 buildings were found benami. I don't know when, who are...
09:55 AM, Nov 01, 2012
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been criticised for his 'Rs 50 crore girlfriend' comment about MoS HRD Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar. But on Wednesday, he gave himself credit for never attacking the media. "I am proud that although I have been targeted so many times by people, I have never lost my cool and misbehaved with media." ...
03:48 PM, Oct 31, 2012
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkari's dubious business dealings are taking their political toll. The BJP President has had to cancel campaigning in Himachal Pradesh amidst reports that the state unit doesn't want him there. With reports that his tour to poll bound Himanchal may affect party's prospects in the state, as some state leaders expressed apprehensions, Gadkari cancelled his two rallies at Solan and Bilaspur. But...
08:58 AM, Oct 30, 2012
Mandi: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was at his offensive best on Monday as he continued his attack on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. This time, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongman took on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and newly-appointed Minister of State for Human Resources Development (HRD) Shashi Tharoor during an election rally in Himachal Pradesh. While addressing a public rally as part of the campaign for...
04:53 PM, Oct 29, 2012
New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi will kickstart the party's election campaign in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh on Monday with a rally in Mandi at 11 am. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi are expected to join the campaign later this month. Battle lines have been drawn for multi-cornered contests with 459 candidates remaining in the field for 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly going to polls on November...
07:21 AM, Oct 22, 2012
Shimla: The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday stopped the BJP government in Himachal Pradesh from distributing free PDS bags carrying photographs of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "Henceforth, no bags will be issued to the consumers of public distribution system (PDS) with a picture of any political leader, of whatever stature he/she is," Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath told reporters in Shimla. Sampath was in Shimla with other EC...
09:36 AM, Oct 08, 2012
New Delhi: Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly election dates will be announced by the Election Commission at 4 PM on Wednesday. Campaigning has already started in the two states with Gujarat seeing a lot of action as both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as well as the Congress are leaving no stones unturned to mobilise their supporters. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is already touring the state while Congress President...
02:10 PM, Oct 03, 2012
