Meet Rajinder Rana, the one who defeated BJP's Prem Kumar Dhumal in Himachal Pradesh

Once a protege of Prem Kumar Dhumal, life has come full circle for Rajinder Rana who defeated his political guru in Sujanpur constituency in the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls.

Rana won by a margin of 1911 votes. Dhumal's humiliating loss spoiled celebrations for BJP on the day the party marched back to power with a thumping majority.

"I thank the people of my constituency for showing faith in me, it is their win. And I will continue to work like before," said a beaming Rajinder Rana after he was declared the winner.

"I owe this success to Dhumal ji, who is also my political guru, I am sure he must be proud of my victory," he added.

"This was a battle between a big name and a ground worker, people of Sujanpur chose the latter," said Rana. He is credited for his efforts in setting up a mini Secretariat in Sujanpur which was long pending demand of the locals.

The constituency is Rana's stronghold and was considered a tough seat to win for BJP. This was a reason why BJP top leadership chose Prem Kumar Dhumal to fight from Sujanpur instead of his preferred Hamirpur seat.

Sujanpur constituency result was held up due to discrepancy in postal ballots. This was sorted out and result was declared late evening after counting of votes for the last two rounds.