BJP : In Shimla the Bharatiya Janata Party lost all five Assembly seats in Union Minister Anurag Thakur’s Lok Sabha constituency of Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, but won all three in party president JP Nadda’s hometown of Bilaspur.

The Congress candidate won by 399 votes in Sujanpur, where Mr Thakur’s father, former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, previously ran. Mr Dhumal was not given the ticket this time, despite the fact that both the party and he claimed he had chosen to retire. Soon after the announcement, Mr Thakur was seen publicly crying “in praise of his father’s hard work.”

In Boranj, the BJP was defeated by a mere 60 votes. Hamirpur assembly segment was won by an Independent candidate, while Congress also won Barsar and Nadaun.

Mr Nadda’s hometown of Bilaspur saw BJP candidates win all three Assembly seats, albeit by narrow margins.

Following the BJP’s defeat in the hill state, Anurag Thakur came under fire on social media from BJP supporters who blamed him for the party’s infighting.

BJP rebels ran in at least 21 of the 68 constituencies. Only two of them won, but others received significant votes that should have gone to the BJP.

Overall, there was three-way factionalism at work, with Anurag Thakur and JP Nadda leading separate factions, and the third loyal to Chief Minister Jairam Thakur.

The Congress received a comfortable majority of 40 seats in Himachal Pradesh, while the BJP received 25. The AAP did not gain a single seat.

The BJP  had been banking on PM Modi’s achievements for a smooth transition to a record second term in Himachal Pradesh, despite the fact that the state alternates between the BJP and the Congress every five years.

A Twitter user compared this to “the Narendra Modi effect in Gujarat” and questioned candidate selection, blaming Anurag Thakur and JP Nadda.

Another went a step further, suggesting that the Gujarat BJP chief be appointed as the party’s national president, replacing JP Nadda, and that Anurag Thakur be “fired from the party.”

Anurag Thakur had also not tweeted about Himachal at the time of filing this report at 7 p.m., despite retweeting PM Modi’s thank-you message to voters.

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