Gujarat, Himachal Election Results 2022 Live Updates: Party's high command to decide on Himachal CM, say Congress MLAs

The Aam Aadmi Party won five seats and secured 13 per cent of the popular vote in Gujarat, in a performance that belied its high-decibel campaign in the state but cleared the way for it to become a national party.

During the campaign, the party positioned itself and its national convenor Kejriwal as the sole challenger of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi respectively. Vote counting on Thursday, however, showed that the party succeeded more in splitting opposition votes and helping the BJP score a historic win.

It also failed to replace the Congress party as the principal opposition in the state.

Despite the AAP cutting into its votes, the Congress still polled 27 per cent votes and won 17 seats. In several constituencies, especially in the Saurashtra region, the AAP seriously hurt the Congress party's prospects as the contest turned three-cornered with BJP succeeding to keep its core voters intact.

"It's victory of people of the state. People voted for change and against unemployment and inflation. We'll be united and there won't be any factionalism in our party. We met party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and had a discussion regarding our next step," he said.

Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Pratibha Singh said the people of Himachal Pradesh have given the party the mandate and "there is no need to fear (poaching)".

"We can meet (our MLAs) anywhere including Chandigarh or in the state. Those who have won will be with us and we will form the government," she said.

"It is a very emotional moment for me as I can see the same kind of support from people as it was for late Virbhadra Singh. Chandigarh is an easily accessible meeting point for MLAs and we are not worried about poaching," she added.

The Congress won 40 seats in the 68-member assembly riding on anti-incumbency.

While Congress won 40 seats in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP won 25 seats. Independents won three seats and AAP failed to open its account in the state.

In terms of vote share in Himachal, Congress is only marginally ahead of the BJP having got 43.88 per cent of votes compared to 42.99 per cent of its rival. Others garnered 10.4 per cent vote share in the hill state. Himachal Pradesh has a long tradition of alternating governments and Congress was on the right side of anti-incumbency.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur resigned following the party's defeat in the polls.

The Congress, which had not projected a Chief Ministerial candidate in the hill state, was earlier planning a meeting of its MLAs in Chandigarh but changed its plans later after it got a clear majority.

It is a big task for Congress to choose its chief ministerial candidate among various aspirants including Pratibha Singh. Former state Congress chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri are seen as the other contenders for the post.

Earlier on Thursday, Shukla had said that the party chief will decide who will be the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh.

Speaking to ANI on election results in Himachal Pradesh, he said the party chief will take a decision on the chief minister's post.

Meanwhile, some of the Congress leaders apprehended "poaching" attempts by BJP.

After registering a win in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly election, Congress MLAs will meet on Friday in Shimla to decide on the chief minister.Himachal Congress Legislature Party meeting will be held at 3 pm at State Congress Headquarters, Rajiv Bhawan today.Rajeev Shukla, in-charge of the Himachal Pradesh Congress, and supervisors Bhupesh Baghel and Bhupendra Hooda will also be present at the meeting.

he erstwhile royals of Himachal Pradesh who once commanded their own space in politics are losing their charm as only two of them have won in the hill state this time while two others lost at the hustings. Former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's son Vikramaditya Singh, who belongs to Rampur Bushahr's erstwhile royal family, won with a big margin of 13,860 votes from Shimla rural, while Anirudh Singh of the erstwhile royal family of Koti, won from Kasumpti assembly seat.

In a break from the past, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday made a clean sweep in Kutch district bordering Pakistan by winning all the six Assembly constituencies in the region. The Congress, which carried out a silent campaign in rural areas, failed to retain even the two seats it had won last time. The debutant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) failed to win seats, but caused enough damage to the Congress, even leading to its defeat in its stronghold Rapar.

The Congress will heave a sigh of relief as it ends 2022 with a win in Himachal Pradesh under its belt. The grand old party has won 40 out of 68 seats in the state with a vote share of almost 44%. For the party's new president Mallikarjun Kharge, it's a mixed electoral debut. The Himachal verdict comes as a face-saver for him amid humiliating losses in Gujarat and MCD elections.

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said the party is not discouraged by its poor show in the Gujarat assembly polls, and vowed to work to strengthen the outfit in the western State. Contesting the Assembly elections in Gujarat for the first time, AIMIM had fielded candidates in 13 seats but drew a blank till the latest reports came in. Despite the results not going its way, the AIMIM is not discouraged, Owaisi said in a video posted by the party on its official twitter account. He thanked the voters who voted for the party and also said the party respects the people's decision.

"We fully respect the mandate given to the BJP in Himachal Pradesh. New dimensions of development were established in Himachal Pradesh under the leadership of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and we hope that the new Congress government will also be dedicated to the development of Himachal," he said. "Whatever may be the result, we will always remain in the role of a servant in the service of the state with full solidarity as before and will stand for the interests of the state," he said.

In a major setback to the BJP in Himachal Pradesh, eight ministers lost the assembly elections, results of which were declared on Thursday. The defeated leaders included Suresh Bhardwaj and Rakesh Pathania whose constituencies were changed from Shimla Urban and Nurpur to Kasumpti and Fatehpur respectively on the eve of the assembly polls and the outsider tag haunted them. The outgoing BJP government had 12 cabinet ministers, including chief minister Jai Ram Thakur.

The Congress has convened a meeting of all its newly-elected MLAs in Himachal Pradesh in Shimla on Friday and the meet is likely to pass a resolution authorising the Congress president to elect the CLP leader. Earlier, the party had called all its MLAs to Chandigarh but changed its plans later after the party got a clear majority in the assembly elections on Thursday. AICC in-charge of Himachal Pradesh Rajeev Shukla said the Congress was happy that it is getting an opportunity to form the government in the state and asserted that the party will do everything to fulfill the 10 guarantees made to the people of the state and would provide better governance to people.

The Congress has convened a meeting of all its newly-elected MLAs in Himachal Pradesh in Shimla on Friday and the meet is likely to pass a resolution authorising the Congress president to elect the CLP leader. Earlier, the party had called all its MLAs to Chandigarh but changed its plans later after the party got a clear majority in the assembly elections on Thursday. AICC in-charge of Himachal Pradesh Rajeev Shukla said the Congress was happy that it is getting an opportunity to form the government in the state and asserted that the party will do everything to fulfill the 10 guarantees made to the people of the state and would provide better governance to people.