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ELECTIONS '96

BJP hopes to form HP govt

The Bharatiya Janata Party in Himachal Pradesh today claimed that it would form the government in the state with the help of Himachal Vikas Congress and some Congress legislators.

State BJP chief Prem Kumar Dhumal, who was elected to the assembly from Bamsan constituency in Hamirpur district defeating his nearest Congress rival Kuldeep Singh Pathania by a margin of more than 8,800 votes, told reporters in Shimla that the slogan of providing a stable and clean government at the Centre under Atal Bihari Vajpayee's leadership, had "paid dividends" to the party in the election.

The BJP has made a clean progress in the election, bagging 20 of the 50 seats declared so far. The Congress has got 25 and the HVC of former Union communications minister Sukh Ram won four. One seat went to an Independent. In the last House, the BJP had a mere seven seats while the Congress had 50. Elections were held for 65 seats of the 68-member House. Polling for three seats has been rescheduled for June 21.

Dhumal said some Congressmen were now questioning Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's wisdom in recommending dissolution of the assembly almost one year ahead of the assembly's scheduled end of term.