By IANS
Shimla : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was Friday poised to take power in Himachal Pradesh after unseating the Congress in assembly elections, adding another feather to its cap after the spectacular Gujarat win.
The BJP had forged ahead in 34 of the 59 seats where trends were available from the vote count that started at 8 a.m., officials said here. This included over 20 seats the Congress held in the outgoing 68-member house.
The Congress, which had won the 2003 polls decisively, was on the winning track in only 20 places, a net loss of over a dozen constituencies.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which cut into Congress votes, and independent candidates led in five seats.
Congress leader Vidya Stokes virtually accepted defeat. “Anti-incumbency was working against us,” she said here.
Political analysts said the BJP could end up winning 40-45 seats. Most of its wins came in constituencies adjoining Punjab.
Exit polls had predicted that the BJP would win in the hill state, which went to the polls over two phases Nov 14 and Dec 19. An estimated 3.2 million people voted.
Thousands of officials began the vote count across 41 centres in the state Friday.
A total of 336 candidates contested the elections. The Congress and BJP fielded candidates in all 68 seats. In 2003, the Congress bagged 43 seats and the BJP 16. Nine seats had gone to independents and smaller groups.