Shimla: Unable to find a combative candidate to challenge former communication minister Sukh Ram in his domain for the Mandi assembly segment, BJP has inducted district congress president DD Thakur and put him as the party candidate for the seat.
Thakur, in 2003 had contested the Mandi seat as the congress candidate but was badly trounced in the election by Sukh Ram who had then contested the election as the president of Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC), an outfit floated after he was ousted from the congress following the telecom scam in early 1990’s.
The congress candidate for Mandi, this time is Anil Sharma, who is the son of Sukh Ram and is a former member of parliament.
BJP Replaces Anita Dhiman With Des Raj At Gangat, Praveen Sharma With DD Thakur At Mandi
Jai Ram Thakur, the state BJP President told My Himachal News Bureau, ““The central parliamentary board of the party has made last minute changes on two candidates. In place of Anita Dhiman, the BJP nominee for Gangat seat now is Des Raj, where as for the Mandi seat Praveen Sharma has been replaced by DD Thakur,â€
On the other hand, congress has also changed its candidate for the Gangat seat.
Congress spokesman Kuldeep Rathore said “Bodh Raj, the congress candidate for Gangat has been replaced by Kishan Kumar, as the official nominee.â€
Congress sources revealed that changing the candidature of Bodh Raj had become a necessity as his nomination was likely to be rejected for the caste status of the candidate is contentious and there was a Supreme Court ruling on it. “Lest the papers Bodh Raj get rejected at scrutiny, the party preferred to change the candidate,†said a congressman, not wishing to be named.
BJP – Congress Rebels Enter Papers as BSP or Independent Candidates
Meanwhile, some BJP and congress rebels have jumped into the fray on the BSP tickets. Karan Singh from the royal house of Kullu and a former BJP minister entered his papers as the BSP candidate from Banjar seat. Dharmvir Dhammi, a congressman bade his party a farewell to enter the contest as a BSP candidate from Kullu.
Roop Dass Kashyap, a former BJP minister has filed his papers as an independent from the Kasumpati seat where Rakesh Pathania, a former BJP legislator filed his papers for the Nurpur seat as an independent.
With 3rd December, being the last date for withdrawal, senior leaders of congress and BJP were out to calm ruffled feathers and hoping to get the rebels to withdraw from the contest.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads the team of media professionals at Hill Post.
In a career spanning over two decades through all formats of journalism in Electronic, Print and Online Media, he brings with him enough experience to steer this platform. He lives in Shimla.
