It's Priyanka effect in Himachal as Rahul skipped

New Delhi, Dec 8: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi skipped the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra campaigned for the party which has yielded good results. The party is on the verge of forming the government in the state with leads in 38 seats.

The Congress General Secretary failed miserably in Uttar Pradesh, but has outperformed the BJP in the hill state which changes governments after every five years.

Priyanka Gandhi addressed several rallies and held roadshows in the state. Her pick, Rajeev Shukla was made the in-charge of Himachal Pradesh and along with him micromanaged the show as the party was going into election for the first time after the demise of stalwart like Virbhadra Singh.

The Congress on Thursday was leading on 38 seats in the initial vote count.

It crossed the half-way mark and was leading in 38 seats at around 1 p.m.

The ruling BJP was leading in 33 seats earlier, but gradually slid to 25 and won two seats.

The independents were leading in three constituencies.

Independents, all BJP rebels, are Hoshiyar Singh from Dehra, Hiteshwar Singh from Banjar in Kullu and Ashish in Hamirpur Sadar, once the stronghold of two-time Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.