Shimla, July 13
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife Kamlesh Kumari is among the Congress candidates who have established a lead in the three bye-poll vote counts here today.
In the eighth round of counting, Kamlesh Kumari, who is contesting from the Dehra assembly constituency of Kangra district, established a lead by 6,116 votes. Initially trailing in the first three rounds, she has now taken the lead.
In the Nalagarh bye-election, BJP candidate and former MLA K. L. Thakur is trailing by 3548 votes in the fifth round of counting against his nearest rival from the INC, Hardeep Singh Bawa. Thakur has received 16044 votes, while Bawa has garnered 19592 votes. Independent candidate and BJP rebel Harpreet Saini secured 6177 votes.
In the Hamirpur assembly constituency, BJP candidate and former MLA Ashish Sharma is leading by 743 votes against his nearest rival, Congress candidate Dr. Pushpendra Verma, in the sixth round of counting.
Counting for the three assembly constituencies began at 8 am peacefully in the district headquarters of Hamirpur, Dharamshala, and Solan. Approximately 200 employees were deployed for the counting of votes.
The bypolls were necessitated after three Independent MLAs, Ashish Sharma from Hamirpur, Hoshiyar Singh from Dehra, and K. L. Thakur, resigned from their assembly seats in March 2024 and joined the BJP.
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