The state Congress chief of Himachal Pradesh, Pratibha Singh, announced on December 9 that the party will hold a meeting in the evening and then choose the name of the chief minister. This announcement came one day after Congress seized control of the state from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Himachal Pradesh.
Congress seized Himachal Pradesh from BJP with 40 seats in the 68-member Assembly. Since 1985, the hill state has upheld its custom of never electing an incumbent to office.
The Election Commission’s results show that the BJP won 25 seats, while eight state ministers, including Suresh Bhardwaj, Ram Lal Markanda, and Surveen Chaudhary, lost their seats.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which had run candidates in 67 seats, failed to open its account, and the Independents won three constituencies.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which made its debut with a loud campaign, won 5 seats while the Congress party finished second with 17 seats. Three seats went to independent candidates, and one went to the Samajwadi Party.
The vote percentage of the BJP increased to 53% from 49%, while the vote share of the Congress plummeted dramatically from 42% to 27% as a sizable portion of its voters looked to have migrated to the AAP, which won 13% of the votes counted.