Shimla, Dec 8 (PTI) Former Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu won from Nadaun assembly seat in Hamirpur district on Thursday, defeating the BJP's Vijay Kumar Agnihotri by 3,363 votes.

Sukhu received 36,142 votes while Agnihotri polled 32,779 votes, according to the Election Commission. There were six contenders in the fray.

Also Read | Minister for Road Transport & Highways #NitinGadkari Announced That the Country’s … – Latest Tweet by IANS India.

Nadaun became a hot seat in the assembly elections as Sukhu, who is seen as a chief minister contender, headed the Congress election campaign committee. Also, this was the fourth time that Agnihotri locked horns with him from the constituency.

In the 2017 elections, Sukhu defeated Agnihotri by 2,349 votes, while in 2012, Agnihotri got the better of the Congress leader by more than 6,000 votes. In 2007, Sukhu defeated Agnihotri by over 500 votes.

Also Read | BMC Elections 2023: Devendra Fadnavis Says 'BJP Will Win Civic Polls With 'Alliance Partner' in Mumbai.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah's jibe at Sukhu about his chief ministerial candidature was also the talk of the town during the election campaign.

Shah had indirectly taken a dig at Sukhu's candidature, saying the Congress was a party of 'rajas and ranis' and even though many chief ministerial aspirants were in the fray, no one would actually get a chance.

Top BJP leaders had campaigned for Agnihotri, who also remained steadfast in the area day and night, while Sukhu remained largely absent due to his responsibilities for the campaign.

The old pension scheme, Agniveer scheme, and the 'one rank one pension' scheme' were the main poll issues in the area.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)