Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur steps down respecting 'people's mandate'

Shimla: Jai Ram Thakur, the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, submitted his resignation to the governor on Thursday after admitting a loss in the assembly elections, according to official sources. They claimed that Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar had accepted his resignation.

The chief minister previously stated that he respects the mandate and will submit his resignation to the governor as the Congress was set to surpass the majority threshold in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly.

"I respect the mandate. In a short while, I am going to hand over my resignation to the governor," Thakur told reporters here shortly before handing over his resignation to Governor Arlekar.

The Congress on Thursday appeared to be heading to achieve a majority in Himachal Pradesh as it surged ahead of the BJP, winning 32 seats and leading in 7 others.

According to the latest results and trends, BJP has won 17 and was leading in nine others.

Three Independents have also emerged victorious.

Himachal Pradesh has not voted any incumbent government to power since 1985.

"Now, new government will be formed, I extend congratulations to them (Congress) and hope they will fulfil their promises.

"We will give constructive support rising above partisan politics but where we feel interests of the state have not been protected we will raise the issues before people," said the chief minister.

He said going by the results which have come, I respect people's mandate and thank them from my heart.

"For five years, they gave us time to serve. We tried to do better," he said.

Replying to a question, Thakur said on many seats the victory margin was narrow. He also said on 11 to 12 seats winning margins were below 1,000 votes.

"If you also see vote share, the difference (between Congress and BJP) is just about one per cent. Despite that, Congress registered a win on many seats... But we respect the mandate," he said.

He, however, said his party will analyse the results.

Asked if Old Pension Scheme dented BJP's prospects, he said it will not be right to arrive at conclusions just now, we will take feedback from different sources.

On BJP rebels contesting on many seats can be a reason for the party to lose the polls, he said all issues will be discussed.

Responding to a question that Congress may take their MLAs to Chandigarh fearing horse trading, Thakur quipped, "They are elected MLAs... but there is a race among leaders in that party as to who will become the CM and that's what they are fearing."

On AAP failing to open an account in the polls, Thakur said the party had no presence in Himachal.

Thakur said he congratulates all people of Himachal, especially voters of the state who cooperated in ensuring peaceful and record polling.

"Respecting people's mandate, I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the support and cooperation we got for the development of Himachal Pradesh," said the CM.

"We undertook development in all fields and the prime minister deserves credit for this. He also guided us during campaigning," he added.

With PTI inputs