Himachal Election Results: Star candidates of BJP, Congress winning or losing? Watch

Chief Minister and BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur has won in the Seraj assembly constituency in Himachal Pradesh, according to the Election Commission.

Thakur, 57, is seeking to continue as chief minister and break the tradition of 'alternate governments' in the state.

Himachal Pradesh has not returned any incumbent government to power in the last nearly four decades.

The Seraj constituency falls under the Mandi parliamentary seat, which state Congress chief Pratibha Singh represents. She won it in a by-election.

Six-time Congress MLA Asha Kumari is trailing in Himachal Pradesh's Dalhousie assembly seat with BJP candidate D S Thakur in the lead, according to the Election Commission.

Kumari is among the chief ministerial probables in case the Congress wins the assembly elections. Dalhousie in Chamba district shot into limelight after veteran Congress leader and former chief minister Virbhadra Singh's aide Harsh Mahajan joined the BJP and queered the pitch for arch rival Kumari, who is seeking re-election from the constituency.

Kumari, who is from the erstwhile royal family of Chamba, was elected for the first time in 1985 and got reelected in 1993, 1998, 2003, 2012 and 201.

Pratibha Singh, wife of former chief minister late Virbhadra Singh, said the Congress is hoping to win at least 40 to 42 seats.

"We are confident that results will be in favour of the Congress and we will form the government," she told reporters.

Virbhadra Singh died last year. His MLA son Vikramaditya contested the November 12 polls from Shimla Rural where he is leading the tally.

Counting of votes for the 68-member assembly began at 8 am and the results of the elections will also reveal whether the BJP's all-out personalised campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to buck the 'alternative government' trend has worked or not.

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