BJP sweeps LS polls in Himachal, wins all four seats

Shimla, Jun 4 (PTI) The BJP on Tuesday made a clean sweep in Himachal Pradesh, winning all four Lok Sabha seats.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur won for the fifth time in a row from the Hamirpur Lok sabha seat, actor Kangana Ranaut and Rajiv Bharadwaj made their maiden debut from Mandi and Kangra seats while former BJP state president Suresh Kashyap retained his Shimla seat.

The Congress not only failed to retain the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, which was wrested by state Congress chief Pratibha in the by-election in 2021 but its dream to recapture the stronghold of Shimla (SC) seat was also shattered as the BJP won the seat for the fourth time in a row.

However, the margin of victory, which was 4,77,623 in Kangra, 4.05,559 in Mandi, 3,99,572 in Hamirpur and 3,27,515 in Shimla (SC) in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, shrunk to 2,51,895 in Kangra, 7,4755 in Mandi, 1,82,357 in Hamirpur and 9,05,48 in Shimla, respectively. PTI BPL AS AS