Shimla

Crossing the halfway mark, the Congress on Thursday surged ahead of the ruling BJP by leading on 38 out of the 68 Himachal Pradesh Assembly seats while the ruling party was leading on 21 and winning four seats.

"We will form a government with a full majority...She (Pratibha Singh) is one of the contenders for the CM post," said Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh, who retained his Shimla (Rural) seat. He is the son of six-time chief minister and veteran leader late Virbhadra Singh.

However, state party chief Pratibha Singh has not contested the poll.

Himachal Pradesh has not returned any incumbent government to power in the last nearly four decades.

The ruling BJP was leading in 33 seats in the initial count of votes, but gradually slid.

The independents were leading in three constituencies, all BJP rebels.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, 57, won from his stronghold Seraj in Mandi district. Congress' prominent leaders - Mukesh Agnihotri, 60, and Sukhvinder Sukhu, 58, were leading from Haroli and Nadaun seats respectively.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was in the fray for the first time in the Assembly polls, had been missing from the state well ahead of the polling with its leaders focusing on strengthening its vote bank in Gujarat.

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It had fielded candidates on 67 seats and is yet to open its account.