Himachal Pradesh goes Congress way

, Dec 20:

seems to be staying true to its tradition and giving some consolation prize to the

. The state has been handing over power to the major national parties, alternative terms.

Notwithstanding, the bogey of corruption tagged to Virabhadra Singh, the Congress is set to form the next government in Himachal Pradesh. The BJP was almost 10 short of Congress tally.

Unlike Gujarat, the anti-incumbency factor has played a major role in HP and Prem Kumar Dhumal has paid the price. The result is also because of bungled ticket distribution.

The BJP paid the price for ignoring the rebels, who turned virus to reboot the Congress in the apple state. The rebel factor was strong enough to negate mountains of corruption charges against Virabhadra Singh. He resigned from the union ministry but the Congress party, gambled and put faith in him. He is likely to be the next Chief Minister of HP.

Early trends gave BJP good lead but as the counting progressed, the picture of Congress win became clear and even the friends of BJP conceded by tweeting their disappointment.

Chief Minister Dhumal's son Anurag Thakur felt that "delimitation played an important role in this election as it was held after the recent delimitation."

OneIndia News