Shimla: Congress candidates are leading in all three assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh, where bypolls were held earlier this week, officials reported on Saturday. Among the candidates is Kamlesh Thakur, wife of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

The vote counting for the by-elections in Dehra, Hamirpur, and Nalagarh began at 8 am, following the Wednesday elections.

In Dehra, Kamlesh Thakur is leading by 1,815 votes against BJP candidate Hoshiyar Singh after six rounds of counting. In the Hamirpur assembly seat, Congress candidate Pushpinder Verma leads by 1,707 votes against BJP's Ashish Sharma after three rounds. Similarly, Congress's Hardeep Singh Bawa is ahead by 1,571 votes against BJP candidate K L Thakur in Nalagarh after two rounds.

A total of thirteen candidates contested the three seats. The Nalagarh constituency recorded the highest voter turnout at 79.04%, followed by Hamirpur at 67.72%, and Dehra at 65.42%. The overall voter turnout for these bypolls was 71%, according to the state election department.

The by-elections were necessitated after three Independent legislators—Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur), and K L Thakur (Nalagarh)—who had supported the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls on February 27, resigned from the state assembly on March 22 and joined the BJP the following day. Their resignations were accepted by the assembly speaker on June 3, resulting in the vacancies.

The BJP fielded the same former MLAs for these seats. The Congress nominated Kamlesh Thakur for Dehra, retained Pushpinder Verma for Hamirpur, and selected five-time Indian National Trade Union Congress president Hardeep Singh Bawa for Nalagarh.

While these bypolls will not significantly impact the 68-member House—where Congress holds a majority with 38 MLAs and BJP has 27 members—the results will be closely watched for their political implications.

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