Himachal Forum

[megri]

Hamirpur (Himachal Pradesh), June 5: Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister and BJP candidate, Prem Kumar Dhumal, emerged victorious on Hamirpur Lok Sabha by-election defeating his nearest Congress rival Ram Lal Thakur by over 80,000 votes, Sahara Samay sources said.

While Dhumal polled 3,82,128 votes, his nearest Congress rival and state forest minister Ram Lal Thakur got 3,02,069 votes, Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer Rajneesh Kumar told newsmen here.

The four independents, who were also in the fray, lost their deposits, Kumar added.

Dhumal, who served as chief minister of the hill state from 1998 to 2003, is currently BJP's leader in the legislative assembly.

He had earlier won Lok Sabha elections from Hamirpur seat twice and lost as many times.

According to the channel sources, Dhumal gained lead from the beginning and eventually won the seat.

It is noteworthy here that polling for the Hamirpur Lok Sabha bypoll had taken place on June 2. By-elections here were necessitated after Suresh Chandel of BJP was thrown out of Parliament with 10 others after being charged with taking money to raise questions in the house.