"It's a battle we fought for 5 years...," says HP Congress leader Mukesh Agnihotri

Congress leader Mukesh Agnihotri while heading towards the party office exuded confidence in the party's high command and said "the decision taken by them will be just and accepted by all".

Thanking the people of the state he said that they have broken the notion of one-party rule in the country and have continued with the tradition of the hill state of alternating rule every five years.

"We believe in the High Command just like the people of the state believed in us. The people have broken the notion of one-party rule in the country," said Mukesh Agnihotri.

Underlining the efforts made by every member of the party he said that the Congress has fought a battle for five long years.

"It's a battle we have fought for five long years. It is the combined effort of all the members of the party," he said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Harshwardhan Chauhan said that there is a lot of developmental work to be done in the state and with the guidance of the party's high command it would all be done.

"We believe in the party's high command. There are a lot of decisions that need to be taken for the development of the state. whoever becomes the CM will be the collective efforts of the council of ministers," said Harshwardhan Chauhan.

Finalizing its chief ministerial candidate for Himachal Pradesh appears to be a sticky task for Congress with various aspirants in the fray including Pratibha Singh, widow of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, former state party chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri.

The Congress won 40 seats in the 68-member assembly riding on anti-incumbency wave against the Jai Ram Thakur's BJP goivernment.

The BJP won 25 seats, Independents won three seats while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) failed to open its account

In terms of vote share in Himachal, Congress is only marginally ahead of the BJP has got 43.88 per cent of votes compared to 42.99 per cent of its rival. Others garnered 10.4 per cent vote share in the hill state.

Himachal Pradesh has a long tradition of alternating governments and Congress was on the right side of anti-incumbency.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur resigned following the party's defeat in the polls. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP formed the government by winning 44 seats while Congress secured 21 seats. (ANI)