Kirpal Parmar, the rebel BJP candidate whom PM Modi reportedly called, loses election

Kripal Parmar, the BJP rebel in Himachal Pradesh from Fatehpur seat, who did not quit the contest even after a reported phone call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has lost the election.

Parmar, 63, who contested as an independent candidate, finished third with just 2,800 votes.

The Congress crossed the half-way majority mark comfortably, despite exit polls predicting a narrow victory for the incumbent BJP.

Ending third

Parmar, a former BJP MP, finished way behind Congress’s Bhavani Singh Pathania, who won in Fatehpur defeating his nearest BJP rival Rakesh Pathania.

Parmar had been upset with his party since last year, when he was not picked for the Fatehpur by-election. He blamed BJP president JP Nadda, his former school classmate, for his revolt, accusing him of “insulting me for 15 years”.

Also read: Gujarat polls: BJP cracks the whip on rebels, suspends 12 more

The call that went viral

PM Modi’s reported call to Parmar, asking Parmar to step away from the contest, in the run-up to the elections had gone viral. The alleged phone call was never officially confirmed either by the BJP or the Prime Minister’s Office.

Speaking to NDTV, Parmar had said the call was not fake and that PM Modi had indeed called him on October 30. “We have known each other for 25 years. When he (PM Modi) was in charge of Himachal Pradesh and I was a vice-president, we travelled and stayed together a lot. I have family ties with him. I consider him my God,” the rebel said.

Around 30 rebels contested against official BJP candidates in the 68-seat state.