BJP retains Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat in HP

Hamirpur, May 25: BJP today retained the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh by a record margin of about 1.75 lakh votes.

BJP's Anurag Thakur, son of HP Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, won the bypoll defeating Congress candidate O P Rattan by 1,74,666 votes.

In 1999, BJP's Suresh Chandel had defeated Ram Lal Thakur of the Congress by a margin of 1,29,247 votes.

With this victory, the BJP has continued to maintain its winning streak in the state after winning the State Assembly election held last year.

While Mr Thakur polled 3,74,339 votes, his nearest Congress rival and former minister O P Rattan got 1,99,673 votes out of the total 5,85,433 votes polled.

A BSP candidate and an independent, who were also in the fray, lost their deposits.

The bypoll was held after Mr Dhumal resigned from the Lok Sabha on becoming the state Chief Minister following the assembly election last year.

UNI