"Rahul Gandhi's Yatra Helped...": Congress Chief On Himachal Win

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge credited the Gandhis with the party's victory in Himachal Pradesh, on a day when it suffered a historic loss in Gujarat. "Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' also helped us in this," Mr Kharge said, even though Himachal isn't on the Yatra route, nor did Rahul Gandhi campaign in the hill state.

Mr Gandhi did take breaks from the Yatra to hold some rallies in PM Narendra Modi's home state Gujarat, where the Congress has suffered a historic loss. For Himachal, he issued a message for the voters before the November 12 voting. Today, he tweeted that "all promises will be fulfilled sooner than soon".

On the ground, Rahul's sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra campaigned vigorously across Himachal, and Mr Kharge, who too held rallies, thanked her. He also said former chief "Sonia Gandhi's blessings are also with us".

"I want to thank the people, our workers and leaders. It's due to their efforts that this result has come," he said. 

Congress's hopes were pinned to the "rivaaj" (tradition) of changing the government every election, and that eventually happened as the BJP was voted out despite a number of rallies by PM Modi and other top BJP leaders.

On steps after getting the majority — the party has infighting over the chief minister's post, beside fears of BJP's poaching attempts — Mr Kharge said, "Our observers and in-charge secretaries are going there (Himachal Pradesh). They will decide when to meet the governor and call a meeting (of Congress MLAs)."