November 02
In a major set back to the ruling BJP, Congress on Tuesday won the Mandi Lok Sabha by-poll along with all three Assembly constituencies like Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai — in by -polls.
Congress candidate Pratibha Singh, wife of six-time Chief Minister late Virbhadra Singh, won the Mandi seat, which falls Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur’s home district. She defeated BJP’s greenhorn Brigadier Khushal Thakur (retired) by a slender margin of 8,766 votes.
The Congress candidates won Arki, Jubbal-Kotkhai and Fatehpur Assembly segments with comfortable margins.
The seat fell vacant with the death of two-time BJP MP Ram Swaroop Sharma.
Virbhadra Singh was elected from Mandi in 1971, 1980 and 2009. But, he lost from Mandi seat in 1977.
