This Article is From Jun 30, 2013

Himachal Pradesh Lok Sabha bypoll: Congress retains Mandi seat

Shimla: Congress candidate Pratibha Singh today won the Mandi parliamentary bypoll with a margin of over 1.36 lakh votes, election officials said.

She defeated her nearest rival Jai Ram Thakur, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator and former cabinet minister.

Earlier, this seat was represented by Pratibha Singh's husband and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who resigned following his election to the state assembly in December 2012.

The main contest was between the Congress and the BJP.

In a statement from Delhi, Virbhadra Singh said, "I want to thank all the voters for the landslide victory of the Congress."

Expressing gratitude to voters of rain-ravaged Kinnaur district, the chief minister said: "I specially thank the voters of Kinnaur who overwhelmingly participated even after the natural calamity hitting the region."

He assured them that the government would reciprocate with the same spirit by ensuring speedy development works and undertaking massive relief and rehabilitation works.

Nearly 53 percent of the 11,24,786 electors exercised their franchise in the two phases of voting held June 23 and 27.

The Mandi parliamentary constituency, which includes Kullu, Mandi and some areas of Chamba and Shimla districts, besides the tribal-dominated Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti, is one of the biggest in the country.

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