With the BJP losing Mandi Lok Sabha and three assembly seats-Jubbal-Kotkhai, Fatehpur, and Arki- in the bypoll on November 2, alarm bells have started ringing in Himachal Pradesh (HP) for the saffron party as the state is slated for assembly polls next year.

There are 17 assembly seats under Mandi parliamentary constituency and along with three more assembly seat bypoll, the leads are available for 20 seats (close to 30 percent) out of a total of 68 assembly segments in the state.

Out of 17 seats of Mandi, Congress candidate Pratibha Singh registered victory in nine but lost in eight. In total, the grand old party registered a lead in 12 seats out of 20. If the same results are to be replicated in next year’s assembly’s poll, then Congress is set to snatch seven seats from the ruling BJP.

The Mandi victory, though by a thin margin of close to 7,490 votes, is significant as it is the home district of incumbent BJP Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

The Congress kept the pitch on the price rise and unemployment; besides there was a sympathy wave for Pratibha Singh, due to the demise of former six-time CM Virbhadra Singh.

It resulted in a landslide margin from the Rampur seat for Congress. On the other hand, the BJP harped on Modi government’s flagship programmes, seeking votes in the name of Modi which didn’t work in the hill state this time.

Though Fatehpur and Arki were with the Congress earlier too, snatching Mandi and Jubbal-Kotkhai from the saffron party, will not hold good for the CM.

Particularly, when Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur, who is MP from Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, is waiting in wings.

And also considering the fact the BJP had recently replaced CMs in Gujarat and Uttarakhand before the assembly polls due next year there.

On the other hand, the bypoll has turned out to be significant for both Pratibha Singh and her MLA son Vikramaditya Singh.

With the demise of Virbhadra Singh, one of the tallest leaders of the state, the Congress was clueless as there was no one under whose name the next assembly election could be fought.

The present leaders don’t have an impact outside their constituencies.

Now, with Pratibha defeating the present CM in his home district, a new leader is born. She has won the Mandi seat thrice now.

Her son Vikramaditya, MLA from Shimla (Rural), is also earning accolades for being an architect of her mother’s campaign.

The family took up the challenge to contest a difficult bypoll, which pundits were saying could go either side due to a host of projects announced by the CM Jai Ram Thakur in the Mandi

The insiders in the state unit of the Congress are expecting that party leaders could now rally around Pratibha and her son and it is to be seen whether they will be able to create the magic of Virbhadra Singh.

Although a challenging task at hand, as of now the party could celebrate the drubbing of the saffron party.

Pratibha Singh, while talking to media persons, said, “The bypoll result is the verdict of the public against the governance of the BJP government at the Centre and in the state. Price rise and unemployment have been major issues. The people of the state have made up their minds to oust the BJP in the 2022 Assembly elections.”

Meanwhile, CM Jai Ram Thakur, while accepting the verdict of the people, said, ” Mandi victory is by the lowest margin ever. We will leave no stone unturned to clinch victory in the 2022 Assembly polls.”