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| Edited By: |Source: |Updated: Dec 20, 2012, 08:18 PM IST
BJP is leading in 4 seats and Congress in 1.
Record voter turnout
Nearly 74% of the 4.6 million electors exercised their franchise. This was an all-time record for assembly polls in the hill state.
Seems like there is a turn of events. BJP is now leading in all 5 seats.
Congress leader Jagdambika Pal shows confidence, says "We will win for sure."
Chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal is leading from the Hamirpur constituency
Congress has crossed the half-way mark and is leading in 36 seats
Asarwa: First round of counting shows that BJP is leading with 7,005 votes
Congress has got 1,091 votes
Naranpura: Latest numbers in —
BJP leads with 15,439 votes
Congress gets 3,277 votes
Bapunagar: BJP leads with 4,390
Congress gets 3,636 votes
Hamirpur: Dhumal of BJP is leading against Congress's Narinder Thakur
Dhumal prepares to lose
CM Dhumal seems like he's prepared for a loss. "Whatever people decide is good. It would be good if they support us, and good even if they don't."
As initial trends indicated a Congress victory in Himachal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh said that he had put in his "best efforts" in the polls and it was for Sonia Gandhi to decide the party's chief minister.
"I had been given the brief to bring the party back to power and for that I had put in my best efforts. It is for our national leader Sonia Gandhi to decide who will become the Chief Minister," Singh said.
Congress got absolute majority in Himachal Pradesh in the Assembly elections 2012.
Polling begins
The main contest in Himachal is between the ruling BJP and the Congress. The fate of 459 candidates, including 106 independents, will be decided during the day. Voting was held Nov 4.