BJP, Cong neck and neck in Himachal ZP elections

Shimla, January 23

The ruling BJP and Opposition Congress today made claims and counter-claims of victory in the Himachal zila parishad polls, the counting for which is underway.

Senior leaders, including Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and Congress Leader of Opposition (LoP) Mukesh Agnihotri, have suffered a setback on their home turfs.

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If the initial results were an indication, the Congress has done better in upper Himachal, which includes Shimla and Sirmaur, while the BJP stole the show in the lower belt, including Una.

BJP state president Suresh Kashyap claimed victory in 156 of the 239 ZP wards and in 1,218 (74 per cent) of the panchayat samitis.