ELECTIONS

'Congress has edge in Himachal'

By Onkar Singh in Shimla
February 24, 2003 13:26 IST

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are making a last-minute attempt to woo the electorate in Himachal Pradesh.

The Mall Road in Shimla was the hub of activity as activists were appealing, through loudspeakers, to people to vote for their parties.

"We are giving the Congress an edge over the BJP. According to our feedback, the Congress will get 24 seats and the BJP 22. One each to Sukh Ram's Himachal Vikas Congress and another local party. Six rebel candidates, three each of the Congress and the BJP, will win their seats. The rest will go to independents," a senior Intelligence Bureau official told rediff.com

According to the agency, the Congress lost considerable ground in the last two weeks and the BJP picked up.

Last time six seats were won with a margin of less than 500 votes. In fact, one seat was won by a margin of three votes. In all, sixteen seats were decided by a margin of less then one thousand.

The scene could be repeated this time as well.

Onkar Singh in Shimla
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