Himachal Pradesh: Congress Wins Seven Seats, Leading On 32; BJP Bags Eight, Ahead On 18

2:00 pm:

Congress is set to return to power in Himachal Pradesh after five years as the party is likely to cross the majority mark in the 68-seat state assembly.

The grand old party is leading on 33 seats and has won on 6 seats, according to the EC.

Meanwhile, BJP has won eight seats and is ahead on 18 others.

The EC has declared the results for sixteen seats so far, out of which two seats have been won by independent candidates.

Congress has won in Jubbal-Kotkhai, Kinnaur, Chamba, Kasumpti and Shimla seats.

Meanwhile, BJP was declared winner in Bharmour, Mandi, Nurpur, Pachad, Paonta Sahib, Sundernagar, Karsog and Churah.

Congress is leading the elections in 38 seats while BJP is ahead on 26 seats in Himachal, according to the Election Commission.

BJP, which got 44 seats in the last assembly election in the state in 2017, has won one seat so far, as per EC.

Meanwhile, Congress is yet to win a seat but is leading on 39 seats. Independent candidates are leading on three seats.

In 2017 Himachal Assembly elections, BJP bagged 44 seats while Congress got 21 seats.

If the current trends persist, Himachal is set to retain its decade-old record of voting out ruling party.

No party has won a back-to-back election in Himachal Pradesh after 1985.

11:30 am:

Himachal Chief Minister Jairam Thakur has won from Seraj constituency with a huge margin of over 36,000 votes.

Meanwhile, Congress has secured a lead in Himachal, with the party leading on 38 seats, as per the latest Election Commission data.

BJP is leading on 27 seats while the independent candidates are leading on three seats.

10.40 am:

BJP is also leading in Himachal's Fatehpur seat, where party's Rakesh Pathania is ahead of Congress candiate Bhawani Singh Pathania by over 400 votes.

BJP's rebel candidate Kripal Parmar is also contensting from the constituency and is trailing on third position with 1,341 votes.

Reportedly, PM Modi had personally called Parmar to back out from contesting the elections.

10.20 am:

BJP and Congress are engaged in a neck-and-neck battle in Himachal, as per the latest EC trends.

Meanwhile, Independent candidates are leading on four seats.

10:00 am:

09:40 am:

Results for 57 seats have been displayed now on the Election Commission website and while the BJP leads on 31, Congress leads on 23 and Independents lead on three.

09:05 am:

As counting began for the 68-seat Himachal Pradesh Assembly, early trends suggest the BJP pulling ahead of the Congress.

As per trends in the first hour, majorly constituting of postal ballots, it was a close contest in Himachal. While the Election Commission of India shows the trends for just one seat at the time of writing, according to one channel, the BJP was ahead in 39 constituencies while the Congress was ahead in 27. According to another, the Congress was ahead in 36 and the the BJP in 32.

The AAP was yet to register a lead in its name, while Others were ahead in two.

The majority mark in the Himachal Pradesh assembly is at 35.

The BJP's victory resulted in Jairam Thakur taking over as chief minister. In this election, the BJP and Thakur seek to change the trend of incumbent governments being voted out in Himachal and in fact return to power.

In the run-up to the polls, Swarajya undertook an in-depth analysis of the overall ground situation in Himachal Pradesh.

• Assembly Polls: The Countdown Begins In Himachal Pradesh

Also, here's an electoral history of Himachal Pradesh in maps for more fascinating facts about the state's political history.