Virbhadra accepts defeat, tenders resignation to governor

Shimla: Six time Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Tuesday accepted his defeat in the state assembly election as Congress seats were reduced to 21 from 36 while the Bharatiya Janta Party got clear majority with 44 seats in the results declared here on Monday.Mr Singh rushed to Rajbhavan here on Tuesday morning and submitted his resignation to state Governor Acharya Devrat as the Chief Minister and from the Council of Ministers. 

The Governor has accepted the resignation and requested him to continue in Office along with his Council of Ministers to discharge the functions till an alternative arrangement was made or new government formed. Mr Singh faced major debacle in the assembly election as including five cabinet members in council of ministers, party senior leaders like Kuldeep Singh from Chintpurni, Rakesh Kalia from Gagret, Rajesh Dharmani from Ghumerwin, Gangu Ram Musafir from Pachhad, Mansa Ram Karsog, Chander Kumar from Jawali, Kuldeep Singh Panthania from Bhatiyat, Rohit Thakur from Jubbal Kotkhai and Viplav Thakur from Dehra, Ram Kumar from Doon, Harbhajan Singh Bhaji from Shimla faced major defeat and many among them were pushed to third or fourth positions.Virbhadra Singh took oath as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh in December 25 in 2012 after Congress got 36 seats in the state assembly elections. (UNI)