Following a defeat, third time in a row, at the hustings for the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, forest minister Ram Lal Thakur has tendered in his resignation today.
When contacted over phone Thakur informed that he had tendered his resignation to chief minister Virbhadra Singh , accepting moral responsibility for losing the crucial by-election.
Though a cabinet meeting chaired by the chief minister was held after the Hamirpur result which Thakur did not attend, reliable sources informed. The resignation was pending with state chief minister and a decision on it was likely to be taken soon.
Out of 704,199 votes polled in the Hamirpur by election, Ram Lal Thakur secured 302,069 as against Prem Kumar Dhumal, the BJP candidate, who secured 382,128 and was declared winner by a margin of 80,059 votes. Of the 17 assembly segments is the parliamentary seat, the congress managed to secure a lead in only two of them.
