With Himachal win, BJP set to control 19 states

New Delhi: The BJP is all set to add one more state of Himachal Pradesh to its kitty as the traditional anti-incumbency factor in the hill state have worked in favour of the saffron party helping it to dislodge the ruling Congress.According to trends and results of counting of votes, the BJP has won three seats while it established leads in 41 others as against Congress party leading in 18 and has won two seats so far in the 68-member assembly.

With Himachal win, BJP and NDA now will have control in 19 states. However, the BJP also could get a setback as its Chief Ministerial candidate P K Dhumal was trailing behind Congress candidate in Sujanpur. The CPI (M) sprang a surprise winning the Theog seat. The scale of BJP victory is higher than the Congress in 2012 as the party had come to power five years ago winning 36 seats. The BJP victory in this year's election would be just the continuation of the decades old trends in hill state as voters have generally a party in power every five years. 

Most of the BJP seats in Himachal Pradesh have come from those areas where the party has its strongholds.The Elections Commission figures put the vote percentage of the BJP at 48.5 per cent whereas the Congress has got 41.6 per cent of votes so far. The CPI-M, which could win Theog assembly segment recorded a vote share of 1.7 per cent.Rakesh Singha, a central committee member of the CPI-M, won the seat which was won by senior Congress leader Vidya Stokes in 2012. (UNI)