Dehradun, May 23: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in hill states Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh is leading with a good margin on all the Lok Sabha seats in the states. The early trends in the first two hours of counting of ballots on Thursday show that the BJP candidates in both the states are leading with good numbers against their Congress rivals. The counting of votes for 5 parliamentary seats in Uttarakhand and four seats in Himachal Pradesh began at 8 AM on Thursday, amid tight security. Uttarakhand General Election Results 2019 Live News Update: BJP Leading in All Five Seats.

In Uttarakhand, the BJP is virtually locked in a straight fight with Congress in all the five seats - Tehri Garhwal, Pauri, Haridwar, Almora and Nainital–Udhamsingh Nagar. In Garhwal seat, Tirath Singh Rawat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading from the seat. He has been fielded against Congress candidate Manish Khanduri. Meanwhile, in Almora (SC) , BJP candidate Ajay Tamta is leading against  Pradeep Tamta of the Congress party.

Take a Look at The Table:

Constituency Leading Candidate Leading Party Trailing Candidate (Party)
Almora Ajay Tamta BJP Pradeep Tamta (INC)
Tehri Garhwal Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah BJP Pritam Singh (INC)
Garhwal Tirath Singh Rawat BJP Manish Khanduri  (INC)
Hardwar Ramesh Pokhriyal BJP Amrish Kumar (INC)
Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar Ajay Bhatt BJP Harish Rawat (INC)

In Hardwar, BJP ;s Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' is leading against Congress candidate Ambrish Kumar. In Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, BJP's Ajay Bhatt is leading against Congress candidate and former Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat. In Tehri Garhwal seat, Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah is leading against Pritam Singh of the Congress party.

In Himachal Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in all the four seats in the state. On May 19, a total of 38,01,793 voters -- 72.25 per cent of 52,62,126 eligible ones voted in a single phase to select their representatives to the 17th Lok Sabha. Forty-five candidates, including a lone woman, are in the fray for the four seats.

In Mandi, Ram Swaroop Sharma of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading. He is fielded against Congress candidate Aashray Sharma. In the Hamirpur constituency, Anurag Singh Thakur of the BJP is leading against Congress candidate Ram Lal Thakur . In Kangra, Kishan Kapoor of the BJP is leading  against Congress candidate Pawan Kajal while in Shimla (SC), Suresh Kumar Kashyap  of the BJP is leading against Congress candidate Dhani Ram Shandil.

Take a Look at The Table:

Constituency Leading Candidate Leading Party Trailing Candidate (Party)
Hamirpur Anurag Singh Thakur BJP Ram Lal Thakur (INC)
Kangra Kishan Kapoor BJP Pawan Kajal (INC)
Mandi Ram Swaroop Sharma BJP Aashray Sharma (INC)
Shimla (SC) Suresh Kumar Kashyap BJP Dhani Ram Shandil (INC)

In Himachal Pradesh, its a close fight between the Congress and the BJP.  The elections are being seen as a referendum on the state's 17-month-old Jai Ram Thakur government. In December 2017, the BJP came to power in the state and took charge from the Congress after winning 44 seats in the 68-member Assembly. The Congress won 21 seats, Independents two and the Communist Party of India-Marxist won one.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 23, 2019 11:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).