NEW DELHI: The Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly poll results have thrown many surprises. While the BJP won Himachal Pradesh and crossed the halfway mark in Gujarat, many ministers and heavyweights had to bite the dust and could not save their seats in the just-concluded political battle. While five ministers in the Gujarat government lost the seats to their Congress counterparts, many BJP heavyweights and ministers lost in the hill state.
In Gujarat, ministers Atmaram Parmar and Chimanbhai Sapariya could not got enough votes to reach the Assembly. Parmar, a prominent Dalit leader of the BJP, lost to Congress’ Pravinbhai Maru in Gadhada (SC) seat in Botad district. Maru scored 69,457 votes against Parmar’s 60,033.
Sapariya lost to Congress’ Chiragbhai Kalariya in Jamjodhpur constituency by over 2,600 votes.
Ministers of State Shankar Chaudhary, Keshaji Chauhan, and Shabdsharan Tadvi failed to retain their seats. Chaudhary lost to Congress’ Geniben Thakor by over 6,500 votes; Chauhan by 972 votes to Shivabhai Bhuriya from Deodar.
Tadvi was defeated by Congress’ Premsinh Vasava in Nandod (ST) seat by over 6,300 votes.
It is rare that a CM candidate loses in polls, but in Himachal Pradesh, BJP CM candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal lost his seat. Many ministers in the Congress government and would-be ministers in the next BJP regime also lost.
Dhumal lost by over 2,900 votes to Congress MLA Rajinder Rana of the Congress. Dhumal had won in the 2012 Assembly polls from his home constituency Hamirpur, but he was asked by the BJP to contest from Sujanpur in the same district. Sujanpur is part of Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency represented by Dhumal’s son Anurag Thakur for three consecutive terms.
In Una, BJP’s state president Satpal Singh Satti lost to Congress’ Satpal Singh Raizada by over 3,000 votes. Satti had won the seat in 2012 by 4,746 votes.