Mandi (Himachal Pradesh): BJP candidate from Sundernagar constituency in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district, Rakesh Kumar Jamwal scored a victory on Thursday, registering a total of 29,432 votes.
Jamwal defeated his rival, Congress' Sohan Lal, by a margin of 8,125 votes. Lal, on his part, received 21,307 votes. The seat, now captured by the saffron party for the second straight time, saw Congress securing the last victory back in 2012.
Also read: Tight fight in Himachal: BJP scores 1, leading in 29 seats, Cong in 34
Between 1977 and 1990, BJP displayed a dominant performance in the seat, with party candidate Roop Singh scoring four victories in a row. A six-time MLA, Roop Singh had picked up two more wins in 1998 and 2007, following which the contest has been between Rakesh Kumar Jamwal and Sohan Lal.
Notably, the third highest vote count in the constituency this time around has been achieved by Abhishek Thakur, son of Roop Singh who did not get a BJP candidature from the seat and chose to contest as an independent candidate.
