Himachal bypolls: 2-1 win cements CM Sukhu's authority, strengthens Congress majority in state

New Delhi: The 2-1 bypoll results in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday have not just helped Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu secure the safety of his government but also cemented his authority over the party in the hill state where dissenters were gunning for his head.

With the victories in Dehra and Nalagarh, Congress is back to its original number of 40 MLAs in a House of 68. Sukhu’s government had already bagged a majority on June 4 when Congress won four of the six seats that went to bypolls simultaneously with Lok Sabha elections.

The results of two tranches of bypolls also showed that the rebels – six Congress MLAs and three independents who supported the Congress before switching sides to BJP – ended up strengthening Sukhu as he managed to win six of the nine seats that went to bypolls in less than two month’s time.

The latest round of bypolls were necessitated after three independents – Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), KL Thakur (Nalagarh) and Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) – resigned as MLAs and joined BJP, which fielded them again.

“The people of Himachal have defeated money power by supporting people power and have given a befitting reply to the political conspiracy of BJP. This is the victory of the people. I express my gratitude to the God-like people of Devbhoomi,” Sukhu said after the results.

Though he had already secured 38 seats and majority, the victories in bypolls were necessary especially in Dehra where the party had fielded his wife Kamlesh Thakur.

She defeated Singh by a margin of 9,399 votes in Dehra, which Sukhu said the Congress has not won in the past 25 years. Though he was initially reluctant to field his wife, Congress leadership cited a survey to field her in the seat.

After Hemant Soren and Kalpana Soren in Jharkhand, Sukhu and Kamlesh are the husband-wife combo in an Assembly at present.

While Hardeep Singh Bawa defeated BJP’s KL Thakur by 8,990 votes in Nalagarh, BJP’s lone win came in Hamirpur where Sharma defeated Congress’ Pushpender Verma by 1,571 votes.

While the Lok Sabha results were a disappointment for the Congress, which lost all the four seats, the bypoll results have helped Sukhu crush the rebellion against him.

With a loss in Mandi Lok Sabha against Kangana Ranaut, Sukhu’s bete noire Vikramaditya Singh will not be able to flex his political muscles soon and invoke the legacy of his father Virbhadra Singh, though his mother Pratibha Singh continues to remain Himachal Congress chief.

His chair appeared to have been shaky earlier this year when Abhishek Singhvi lost the Rajya Sabha elections after six Congress MLAs cross voted. Vikramaditya had then led the rebellion while being in government but the central leadership’s swift decisions and Sukhu’s manoeuvres had helped buy time for the government.