The Congress, which had won 43 seats in the 2003 election, was down to 23 seats.

This is the first time the BJP will be forming a government in Himachal Pradesh on its own strength. Its campaign was led by Prem Kumar Dhumal, projected by the party as its chief ministerial candidate.

Earlier, Dhumal had become chief minister in 1998, forming a coalition government with Sukh Ram’s HVC. But he was voted out in 2003, with the BJP winning only 16 seats.

Another highlight of this election is the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) opening its account in Himachal Pradesh: it fielded 68 candidates, mostly Congress and BJP rebels, and secured one seat. But the man it projected as chief ministerial candidate, Maj. Vijai Singh Mankotia, a former Congress minister, suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the BJP in the Dharamshala seat.

Three Independents have also won at the hustings. Two of them are BJP rebels — Rakesh Pathania (Nurpur) and Hira Lal (Karsog) — and one is a Congress rebel — Rakesh Verma (Theog).

Dhumal, 63, won his seat (Bamson) with the highest margin in the elections (26,007 votes). He defeated his nearest Congress rival and schoolmate Col (Retd) B.C. Lagwal. Only six months back, Dhumal had trounced the Congress by more than 80,000 votes in the Lok Sabha by-election from Hamirpur. This was a turning point of sorts for the BJP in the state.

Early elections ordered by the Election Commission and an aggressive campaign of the BJP on issues like corruption and the Congress’s failure to fulfil poll promises, especially that of providing one job to every family, helped it stage a comeback. What cost the Congress dear was the issue of price rise, regional disparities, and favouritism. The Congress has drawn a blank in four of the 12 districts, and a few of its stalwarts either lost, or won with very slim margins. The BSP also queered the pitch for the Congress in Kullu and Mandi.

Some cabinet ministers and Virbhadra Singh confidants like Ram Lal Thakur (Forest), Kuldeep Kumar (Industry) Rangila Ram Rao ( Excise & Taxation), Raj Kishan Guar (Agriculture) lost the elections. Heavyweights like Asha Kumari, Chandresh Kumari, Brij Bihari Butail, all former ministers, and MLAs Anita Verma and Rohit Kumar lost the elections. Congress stalwart Vidya Stokes, a former minister, had to content herself with a lead of just 1,250 votes. Kaul Singh Thakur and Speaker Gangu Ram Musafir, both Virbhadra Singh loyalists, struggled to win the election, all trailing till the very last few hours. Some of the surprise winners in the Congress included former union minister Sukh Ram’s son Anil Sharma, who won from Mandi (Sadar), and G S Bali, a former tourism minister, who had to resign after being caught on camera in company of bar girls during his birthday party.

The BJP’s big win came from lower Himachal areas like Kangra, where the party won nine of the 16 seats, and Mandi, where it won six of the 10 seats. The party swept districts like Solan and Kullu, preventing the Congress from retaining even a single seat.

In Hamirpur, Dhumal’s home district, the Congress retained only one of the five seats. In the Sirmaur district, bordering Uttarakhand, the Congress won four of the five seats. Kush Parmar, son of Himachal Pradesh’s first chief minister Dr Y.S. Parmar, won the Nahan seat, defeating Shyama Sharma of the BJP.

Ironically, the Congress, which wanted elections to three Assembly seats in the tribal belt to be held with rest of the state, lost all three to the BJP. The elections to these seats were held even before BJP had projected Dhumal as its chief ministerial candidate.

BJP cadres broke into celebrations, but it had some big losers too: Radha Raman Shastri, a former Speaker, lost from Chopal; and Shayma Sharma, a former minister, was defeated by Kush Parmar.

Its major winners included J P Nadda, Krishan Kumar, Mohinder Singh, Roop Singh Thakur, Narinder Bragta, Rajan Sushant, Ramesh Dhawala, all former ministers, Gulab Singh Thakur, former Assembly Speaker, Suresh Bhardwaj, former state BJP president, and Jai Ram Thakur, state BJP chief. CM Virbhadra Singh later said the anti-incumbency factor was key to the Congress defeat. He said he was the first to call up and congratulate Dhumal and wish him a successful five-year tenure.